Gray Area
by Nimash
Summary: AU. Life was sweet for Haruhi. But a visit from a mysterious man and her father's debt throws her life into the big, chaotic mess that is the balance between Life and Death, where the "evil" keep the world in balance and the "good" hide true intentions.
1. What Debt?

_Chapter 1: What Debt?_

Haruhi Fujioka had planned out the perfect Sunday.

She would wake up early, as she always did and loved to, and begin cleaning.

She would finish at around eight, when she would wash up and change.

After, she would do her homework, until about noon.

For lunch, she would heat up some leftovers from last night, and watch the news.

Once she finished eating and washing the dishes, she would set off for the supermarket, coupons in hand, and take advantage of the sale.

When she came back, she would put away the groceries and take some time to relax.

After her break, she would continue her independent study of law, and a little extra practice for her math exam.

At around six, she would make dinner, setting some aside for her father, who would be coming home early from the bar.

To end her day she would put away the leftovers, wash the dishes, take a nice shower, brush her teeth, change back into her pajamas, and sleep until Monday came, when she would wake up early and get ready for school.

Coming home from the store to find her father looking distressed and having tea with a man who claimed to be Death was not part of the plan.

She had heard her father's voice when she was struggling with the key to their apartment, groceries in hand.

"Please, there has to be some other way!"

_Dad…?_ Haruhi thought, pausing. _Why is he home so early?_

A second voice, male and unfamiliar to her, answered smoothly, "I'm afraid unless you want your debt to grow, there isn't."

_Debt? Since when has Father been in debt? I manage most of the money, and we haven't ever exceeded our budget…_

The door swung open, Haruhi jumping a bit. "Seems your daughter is home just in time to say goodbye."

Haruhi eyed the man sitting casually across from her panic-stricken father. He appeared to be in his late twenties and tall, with a lean figure and pale skin. His hair was a mess of gravity-defying black spikes, where the color in his eyes should be was white. Black square shades rested precariously on the tip of his nose. He wore a white collared shirt, sleeves rolled up, top buttons undone, under a black pinstripe vest. His slacks were jet black, along with his loafers and gloves. The area from his wrist to his elbows on both arms was covered in thin, simple, brown leather watches, all set to different times.

His chin rested on his interlaced fingers, and when he smiled at her, his teeth were fangs. "She doesn't know, does she?"

Haruhi looked over to her father, still in wig and makeup, only to find him looking down at his hands in his lap. "What's this about?" she asked, a growing sense of worry beginning to overtake her as she set her shopping bags on the floor and walked closer to her father.

"Haruhi, it's-…It's a little hard to explain," he mumbled, still refusing to look her in the eyes as she sat down beside him.

The fanged man smiled. He snapped once, and Haruhi's eyes widened as a drop of water from the faucet froze mid-air, the birds outside frozen in flight, and the fan completely silent and still. "We have all the time in the world."

She had to be dreaming. Never could a man she had never seen before make her father so worried, much less stop time. She tried to keep her voice even, pronouncing each word clearly, just to make sure the man couldn't sense her fear. "Who are you?"

"Pleasure to meet you, Haruhi," the man cooed, shifting positions so that his right hand was extended out in a handshake that would never be returned, "I'm known as Death."

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><p><strong>Hello again. Long time no see. How's life been treating you? Sorry I haven't been on in forever, I had a summer program, moved, and started high school. Before I continue, all other writing of mine is more or less discontinued at the moment, and most will probably be canceled.<strong>

**At any rate, this is an idea I've had for a while. This chapter's a bit short, but right now I'm just testing out the waters, seeing what you all think so far. Trying to write something for the cannon universe hasn't been working out for me, so my next few stories will probably be Au -cough-andHikaHaru-cough-. So leave a review, and I'm off to go do...something...preferably sleep...and post the next chapter...maybe drink some tea...**

**Until then, read and review!**


	2. Death Travels via Fog?

_Chapter 2: Death Travels via Fog?_

Someone pinch her.

No, at this point, someone hit her with a sledgehammer.

Haruhi Fujioka knew, without having to be an expert, death was not a tangible being.

But she had to think; who else could stop time? Even if this was a dream, she might as well go along with it, especially since her father was in trouble.

She stared at Death's open palm, disregarded it, and asked, "What debt are you talking about?"

Death frowned, taking back his hand. "Well, you see, Haruhi, your mother should have died before going into labor. And therefore, you shouldn't even be alive."

Haruhi's mind went blank. She looked at her dad, asking, "Is he right?"

Finally, he looked up to meet her gaze and took her hand comfortingly in his. "Yes, I'm afraid. He appeared right as your mother was at the hospital, her heart about to fail. I can't say that I believed in him either at first, but Haruhi, you have to understand, I-I was desperate! I didn't want to lose Kotoko, and she had wanted to see you grow up so badly, but-"

"But the world would be thrown completely off balance if I let Kotoko live and let you be born," Death continued, Ranka silencing at once. "Your mother was scheduled to die along with you that very day. But you see-" He smiled, his white eyes hinting at true intentions, "I'm really a nice guy. A real sucker for a sob story."

Death leaned back, saying casually, "Well, your dad here really laid it on thick, and my heart couldn't help but go out to the guy. So, I struck up a deal. I would keep Kotoko and you alive to the maximum I could allow, mind you, having to cause other deaths to keep the world in check, and he would come with me willingly when I called for him to repay his debt."

His explanation sounded like a fantasy novel. Haruhi was still in denial, but slowly was coming to realize why there had always been so many freak accidents, costing other children their lives. It was all because of her.

Everything was her fault.

"I'll do it."

Ranka's head snapped up, his eyes wide. Death smirked, a brow raised, prodding, "Oh…?"

"I'll repay my father's debt."

"Haruhi, no! I-"

"Ranka, please," Death chided, rolling his eyes, but unable to conceal the joy, "If Haruhi wants to step up and take your place because you're a coward, then so be it."

"My father is not a coward," Haruhi snapped, standing. Ranka tugged on her arm, knowing full well the dangers of talking back to Death. "I'm taking his place because I am the cause."

Death grinned to rival the Cheshire Cat. "Your father? Not a coward?" he scoffed, going into hysterics. "Oh! Oh, that's _rich_!" He continued laughing for a minute, a mix between a maniac and a clown, the stuff of nightmares, letting it fill up the room. Wiping a tear away, he brushed Haruhi off with a smooth, "Please, your father has been avoiding me for years. Do you know how many souls he owes me?"

Ranka pleaded with his eyes, but Death ignored him, leaning forward and addressing Haruhi, who was still standing. He paused dramatically for effect, and then whispered, forcing her to listen, "Eight. Million."

Impossible! Haruhi could feel her anger grow, defense kicking in. "My father is not a murderer!"

"Relax, child," Death soothed, his cheery façade never fading, "Some of them were simple animals or even plants." Turning to look at Ranka, whose head hung in shame, he added, "But I'm afraid it still adds up to eight million."

Haruhi looked between the two men, unsure who to believe.

The man who had raised her and she had grown to take care of, who now was being called a liar and coward-

-Or the man accusing him.

However, her resolve couldn't be weakened. "I'm still going to take his place."

"Are you sure?"

"Haruhi, please-"

"I'm positive."

Honestly, she had no idea what she was signing up for. Was she going to die right here, right now? How was she supposed to repay a debt in souls? But she didn't have time to go through and make a list, all she knew was she could save her father.

Death stood, snapping his fingers. The drop from the faucet fell, landing with a small splash, the birds outside the window continued on their flight, and the fan buzzed back onto life. "Excellent."

As though he had always been there, Death was right at Haruhi's side, grabbing her right arm and yanking her away from her father, who was tearing up, and blubbering. "Please, don't take her! There has to be some other way!"

While Haruhi was still shocked from the strength of his pull, Death snapped his fingers once more, a black fog tinted with white spiraling around the two. "Cheer up, Ranka," he said, "You still have twenty more years."

His laugh echoed around the small room as he and Haruhi disappeared, Ranka diving after them and being met with the hard floor. For a moment, he simply laid there, trying to process that his only child, his beloved daughter, had been taken from him.

All because he was afraid.

Afraid of loss, loneliness, and Death himself.

"I'm sorry, Haruhi," he whimpered, curling up into a ball, tears hitting the hardwood floor. "I'm sorry for ever getting you in this. I'm sorry I'm such a horrible father. I'm sorry you're going to spend eternity as a Grim Reaper."

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><p><strong>Dun dun dun duuuuun! brick'd**

**I'm very tired. Just throwing that out there.**

**At any rate, the story starts off a tad slow, due to explanations and other things that you will find out, but it should pick up the pace after a few chapters.**

**I don't want to say much else, considering I don't want to give much away, so keep in mind if you ask me a spoiler-ish question, I'm not going to answer.**

**Hooray for being slap-happy tired. And almost done with the next chapter.**

**Until then, read and review!**


	3. Gargoyles Can Speak?

_Chapter 3: Gargoyles Can Speak?_

Haruhi wasn't sure what happened; heck, even if you asked her now, she still couldn't explain. All she knew was one second she was in her apartment, surrounded by a strange mist, Death holding her arm, and the next, she was in an elevator made out of mirrors.

Yes, mirrors.

She hadn't noticed it at first, what with still trying to comprehend what happened and fighting the nausea, but as soon as she had steadied herself on a rail, she saw her reflection.

_Everywhere_.

The floor, walls, ceiling, rails, even the buttons were made of the clearest mirrors she had ever seen.

"Do you like it?"

Her eyes flickered over to her left, finding Death standing next to her (she had forgotten he was there), grinning, and having gone through a bit of a costume change. He wore a long, tattered cloak with white buttons in the shape of clocks, which seemed to float around him, causing Haruhi to wonder if the laws of physics even applied to here. Which brought up the question-

"Where are we?"

Death gestured to the space around him grandly, explaining with more than a hint of eccentricity, "Why, the elevator to my headquarters, of course! Don't you just love mirrors?" As if to emphasize his love, he leaned forward to take a closer look at his reflection. "Mirrors are wonderful ways to torture mortals, because they force you to-" He stopped, turning to look at Haruhi, who had a brow raised, and grinned even wider at his cleverness. "_Reflect_."

She had a feeling he had wanted to use that pun for a while now.

"Wait, so…" Haruhi thought for a moment, and paled a bit. "Am I dead?"

As she asked her question, the elevator stopped, a stereotypical 'ding' resounding through the tiny chamber. "Well would you look at that?" Death said, pushing her out before she could protest or get another word in, "We're already here. Time flies when you're having fun, huh? At any rate, find D.A. before I return, or I'll raise your debt to nine million souls!"

Turning around, Haruhi found the doors were closing, Death waving her goodbye until he disappeared. She lunged, pounding on the doors, as if he would come back, yelling, "You didn't answer me! And how should I know what a D.A. is?"

She stopped, knowing screaming was useless, and took a moment to close her eyes and just breathe, clearing her mind.

She wasn't sure what Death was planning.

She wasn't sure where she was.

She wasn't sure if he was serious about raising her debt.

But what she did know was she needed to find D.A., or there would be trouble, so instead of worrying and wondering, she would just focus on finding D.A.

Haruhi turned back around, away from the elevator, to find she was in a sort of Victorian/Alice in Wonderland style hall. The floors were checkerboard black and white tile, the walls had burgundy wallpaper with a Western gothic Victorian pattern, and all along the hall were long, warped rectangles of mirrors that reminded her of doors.

Not knowing what else to do, Haruhi walked along the hall, trying to not be creeped out by the gargoyles on pedestals, until she came to the end of the hall, the final mirror-door being the largest of all.

_Looks like a good place to start_, she thought. However, how were you supposed to "open" it? There were no handles and it wasn't automatic.

"Skraah! Assignment! Skraaah! Assignment!"

Haruhi nearly had a heart attack when she looked back to find one of the stone gargoyles speeding towards her, wings flapping incredibly fast, eyes glowing red. Having no time to think, she leaped out of the way, the statue paying no attention to her and flying straight through the mirror, the reflection bouncing and jiggling a bit, but eventually returning to normal.

Brown eyes wide, Haruhi cautiously took a step closer to the mirror, wary of any other gargoyles with annoying screams.

All the gargoyle had done was fly right through. Did the mirror simply respond to touch? Haruhi reached out a finger, a small sense of hope rising in her as she thought that finally things were going to become easier.

No such luck. She frowned when her finger hit the solid mirror, nothing happening.

Perhaps she needed a running start? But running into an extremely expensive and fragile-looking mirror didn't seem like the best idea to her at the moment.

What about voice recognition?

Humiliating as it was, there was no one else in the hall, and Haruhi was feeling drained and desperate. Placing her palm on the mirror, she yelled in her best impression of the gargoyle, "Skraah! Assignment! Skra-ack!" Her voice cracked, and she broke into a coughing fit.

"Skraah! Become the mirror!"

Instinctively Haruhi bent her knees, throwing her arms up in defense. Realizing no gargoyle was speeding towards her, she looked first to the left, and then slowly over to the right.

"Become the mirror! Skraah!"

Whipping her head around, she found the source of the voice to be a gargoyle, its head turned to face her, eyes glowing green.

"P-pardon?"

"Become the mirror!"

Haruhi looked back at the mirror, back at the gargoyle, and pointed to the mirror, parroting, "_Become_ it?"

"Skraah! Imagine being melted into the mirror!"

"What does that even mean?" But the gargoyle was already back in its normal sitting position, eyes lacking a glow of any sort.

Of course she couldn't get a straight answer. That would just be too easy, wouldn't it? Haruhi decided the gargoyle probably did know what it was talking about, though, and stepped up to the mirror, placing both hands flat on the smooth surface.

She closed her eyes, imagining the feeling of glass melding with her skin, her atoms mixing with the mirror's, until she was spread evenly. And then, as if someone had dropped the images into her mind, she envisioned herself slowly stepping out of the reflection.

Opening her eyes, Haruhi found she was probably successful.

"Eh? A new Reaper?"

And not alone.

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><p><strong>Oh Death, you're so...<em>punny<em>. Really, Death's jokes make me want to..._kick the bucket_.**

**Okay I'll stop now.**

**Hurrah for annoying gargoyles. I will say the color of the eyes holds significance. But that doesn't really matter at this point. They're still annoying.**

**I'm afraid dear Kyouya will not be in control of Haruhi's debt. Death's the man in charge this time around.**

**Changed the summary. Hope it makes the story sound more interesting. And not stupid. Or awkward. Like I'm being right now. -runs off-**

**Until next time, read and review!**


	4. You Can Conjure Up Coasters?

_Chapter 4: You Can Conjure Up Coasters?_

"Eh? A new Reaper?"

Haruhi looked up from the checkered floor, to find a room decorated much like the hall, but square, with a few framed mirrors, two pedestals, one with a gargoyle sitting, eyes yellow, and a long, dark table complete with plush, strangely shaped chairs.

In front of her stood two auburn-haired, amber-eyed twins, dressed in black V-necks, black, ripped skinny jeans, and black Converse. The twin on the right had a bright blue belt and matching clock, resembling what the White Rabbit might have, hanging around his neck on a long, thin chain, the twin on the left having the same belt and clock, but in a bright orange.

They chorused once more, frowning, "Just a scruffy boy with pretty eyes."

"Hm?" Haruhi peeked around the identical figures, to find a girl sitting in a chair behind them, a pad of paper and pencils on the table next to her. She had turned her body to face the trio, and her head was cocked slightly to the left. "Oh yes, Haruhi." Standing, the girl walked over to Haruhi, allowing the brunette to get a better look.

She was in between Haruhi's and the twins' height, with a cute face, complete with pert nose and dark gray, almost black eyes. Her white hair parted to the left, and was pulled into a side braid on her right, reaching her stomach. She was also dressed in black, except in an off-the-shoulder top with long sleeves pushed up to her elbows, black jeans, and black combat boots. Her belt was a shiny white, and her clock silver.

"This is Hikaru and Kaoru. Kyouya is out on an assignment at the moment," she gestured to the gargoyle with a yellow glow coming from his eyes, "But he'll be back later. And I'm D.A."

Haruhi felt at least a little relieved that she had found the mysterious D.A. "Death said-"

"Yeah, yeah," Blue-er, Hikaru interrupted, rolling his eyes. "D will explain all." He and his twin began walking back to the table, and Haruhi could see a pile of clothes and fabric on the tabletop. Before they reached it, though, Hikaru looked back over his shoulder, an impish glint in his eyes. "Once you get back, you're getting hazed."

D.A. grabbed Haruhi's hand, white mist with small spots of black spiraling around them.

Haruhi opened her eyes to see she was in a small room, resembling an apartment, but again, same checkered floor, walls, and mirrors. The room was built like a studio, just one space, with a bed in one corner, kitchen in another, and a seating area with a loveseat and two armchairs. In the fourth corner, closest to where Haruhi stood, was a desk, complete with piles upon piles of paper, folders, a few photos, sketchpads, pens, pencils, markers, and other things of the sort.

"You can sit in a chair or the loveseat. I'll make some tea."

All the brunette was capable of doing was nodding her head, nausea kicking in again. The room spun, and she struggled to steady herself on whatever was in her path, until she finally collapsed into a chair adjacent from the small sofa.

She listened as D.A. boiled the water in a teapot, set two cups down, and poured the tea. Closing her eyes, Haruhi let the world around her disappear, listening only to the familiar, soothing sounds of such a simple process she had always taken for granted, but brought her so much comfort now.

Haruhi could imagine her father's kind face as she poured him tea, the two sitting together one afternoon, her father having a day off from work. They would talk, share stories, laugh, and for a moment, Haruhi felt at peace.

But eventually she had to open her eyes, seeing D.A. set two cups of tea on the coffee table. She was about to take one, when she paused, frowned, and mumbled, "Death hates water rings."

Holding her hand out so it hovered above the tea, a white aura surrounded her hand, two coasters appearing next to the cups. Haruhi's eyes widened, D.A. smiling to herself, pleased, setting the cups on top of the coasters.

"How did you…?"

"All reapers can conjure almost anything they want in Death's realm." She brought her tea to her lips, taking a sip. "You can do that, too."

"Oh."

Haruhi didn't touch her tea, slightly suspicious and now too confused, drained, and worried to drink or eat anything. The two sat in silence, neither minding it, until D.A. looked at the other girl, without turning her body, saying, "He was kidding."

"Who?" For a moment, no matter how preposterous it seemed, she hoped that this was all a practical joke; some elaborate trick pulled by a few school-mates and her father.

"Hikaru. About the hazing."

"I see."

D.A. shrugged, setting her cup back down on the coaster. "Kaoru tends to be nicer. And Kyouya, well… Kyouya is what apparently most mortals envision Death to be like."

"I'm sorry, but can you please explain just _what_ is going on?" Honestly, she was a little more concerned about what she was supposed to do and what was going to happen to her then what the others were like.

The girl nodded. "I'll start at the beginning."

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><p><strong>Oh look, I'm actually going to explain things. How refreshing.<strong>

**Yes, next chapter will be a long explanation, as I hope to get most of the background information out of the way, but don't worry, I'll sprinkle in some action and make it more interesting than just exposition.**

**What's this? Tamaki, Hunny, and Mori aren't even mentioned? Yes children, that's right, they'll appear later.**

**Yes, it's an OC. She moves the plot, though, and has faults, so let's move on.**

**I spoil you all. I should be doing homework. Which I shall go do now.**

**Until next time, read and review!**


	5. Is Someone Actually Explaining Things?

_Chapter 5: Is Someone Actually Explaining Things?_

A hooded figure walked along the alley, ignored by police man and reporters alike, even as he stepped onto the crime scene, next to the body.

He held out his hand, spreading out his fingers, watching as a dark purple glow surrounded them, a scythe appearing.

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><p>"In the beginning of time, there was only Life. She created beings, controlled what could live and what stayed inanimate. She was the symbol of love, as she loved each living being dearly. However, she kept creating, and soon the world was overpopulated, and people and animals had no purpose in life, because it stretched on for eternity.<p>

"And so, Death was born. Now that I think about it, no one can really say how either Life or Death came into being… At any rate, Death controlled how long whatever Life created lived. He became the symbol of time."

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><p>The figure approached the body, scythe in hand and at the ready.<p>

Floating above the fallen man was a red orb, a heart imprinted on it, and a red mist surrounding it.

The carrier of the scythe reaches around his neck, pulling a dark purple clock out by the chain, unaware of the animalistic creature lying in wait in the shadows, licking its black lips with its long, slimy tongue.

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><p>"Death and Life both needed helpers, though. So Life created Angels, in order to help guide the mortals she had created in times of need, and to help her create new life.<p>

"Death, however, could not create life himself; his powers don't allow him to, in order to keep the two in balance. And so he began striking up deals with mortals.

"He would offer to keep them or a loved one alive, in exchange, having them run errands for him until he decided to set their soul free, giving them a Sisyphean task, or, in a few, select cases, made them Reapers.

"Reapers collect souls that Death doesn't have time for. The gargoyles are messengers. When their eyes are red, they have an assignment that a Reaper can take to help go towards their debt. When their eyes are yellow, they're waiting for the Reaper to come back with the soul, or souls. Green means that they are giving instructions or communicating what Death wants to tell us when he can't see us in person.

"It sounds simple enough, I suppose. We go, get the soul, and bring it back. But the sins of mortals are so strong that they manifest as demons."

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><p>As the clock began to glow, drawing the soul nearer, stretching it thinner, the creature pounced.<p>

However, the reaper had sensed its presence as it leaped, and let go of the clock, stopping the process abruptly, and raising the scythe over his head, holding with both hands, shielding himself from the creature's claws.

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><p>"Each sin has its own type of demon, which goes after a certain type of soul. The type of soul is based on what was most important to the mortal before they died. Souls of those who love money are sought after by Greed demons, those of pride, Pride demons, revenge or violence, Wrath demons, lazing and resting, Sloth demons, those jealous of others, Envy demons, food and over-indulgence, Gluttony demons, and love, Lust demons."<p>

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><p>Recoiling, the Lust demon circled its prey slowly, the two eying each other, waiting for the other to make a move.<p>

The demon was a brilliant red and had four, muscular legs, with long, black talons. While its legs were strong, the rest of its body was skin and bones, the red skin sagging, its rib cage showing. The tail was long, thin, and whip like, the edge being a sharp, black arrow. Black horns ran down the length of its spine, and the head, oh the head!

A cow skull, with red skin stretched tightly over it, the mouth in an eternal, inhuman smile, black fangs poking out, the eyes black, with long, thin, red pupils, like a snake's.

After what seemed an eternity of a stalemate, no mortal crying out, or even seeing any of it, the figure slashed at the demon, managing to cut its side, the thing hissing, slashing back at the Reaper before he could block, making him grind his teeth in pain, his arm bleeding.

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><p>"While Reapers are immortal in the sense that we don't <em>need <em>food or sleep, we can still be killed by powerful magic and demons, and need rest to heal major wounds.

"You'll get your own scythe, and we'll teach you how to fight. It's imperative that demons are killed on the spot and don't claim any souls, otherwise the world will go out of balance."

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><p>The Lust demon leaped into the air, ready to come down for the kill.<p>

The Reaper only smirked, aiming for the stomach, and watching as it fell, now as limp and lifeless as the dead body. Shadows came in, covering the body, seeming to eat at it until there was nothing, and they retreated back to where they belonged.

However, they left a small white feather.

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><p>"Death and Life must remain in balance. Neither can be dominant. But lately…" D.A.'s eyes glazed over, and she didn't finish her thought. Haruhi watched as she shook her head, snapping out of the trance. She raised her cup of tea, taking a sip, and asked Haruhi, "Questions?"<p>

The poor girl was still trying to wrap her head around the entire concept. She asked the first thing that came to mind: "What does D.A. stand for?"

"I'm technically the first Reaper. Apparently, Life was in debt to Death at one point in time, so he asked her to create me. I don't have a name. I'm simply called Death's Angel, so the others shortened it to D.A." She set the tea down on the coaster, pointing to Haruhi's untouched cup. "Do you not feel tired?"

"Mostly confused, but…" Haruhi sighed. "Yes, I'm definitely tired."

"Drink." D.A. offered the cup to her, Haruhi looking slightly hesitant. "It helps."

Slowly, Haruhi took the tea from D.A., lifting it to her lips and taking a small sip. When she deemed it safe, and with D.A. staring at her, Haruhi finished in a few gulps, letting a surge of energy shoot through her, leaving her feeling refreshed.

"How does it do that?" she asked, staring at the cup after she had chugged down the tea.

D.A. replied, "It's a special brew Death created. He loves tea." She added, as an afterthought, "And coffee. And chocolate." Standing, D.A. offered Haruhi a hand, explaining, "We should go get your clock, belt, and scythe, now."

"Huh?"

Haruhi took her hand, and was lead to a mirror, watching as D.A. seemed to step and blend with the reflection, the mirror rippling around her, and Haruhi closed her eyes, quickly imagining just as she had the first time.

On the other side was an armory, however, only scythes hung from the walls, the room lacking almost anything else besides mirrors.

D.A. turned to Haruhi, ordering, "Close your eyes and hold out your hand."

She complied, holding out her right hand. "Now try to picture holding a scythe with that hand."

Haruhi squeezed her eyelids shut until they hurt, pictured a scythe in her hand so clearly that she forgot she was imagining it. When she opened her eyes, expecting something to have happened, she was received with-

Nothing.

"Try again."

Again, her eyelids hurt and she could practically feel the scythe in her hand, but again she opened her eyes and there was only her empty hand.

Feeling a little annoyed, she asked D.A., "Was it this hard for you?"

"No." Haruhi could feel a shot of embarrassment, which was rare for her, but it quickly died down after D.A. explained, "Death created my scythe, seeing as how I was the first, and he knew what my aura was. Your aura is the thing to attract the scythe, so that you can summon it." She thought for a moment, adding, "But the others took awhile as well. Kyouya took half an hour, and the twins were still in denial, so I believe it took almost two hours."

Haruhi now at least felt that this was normal, and so closed her eyes and tried once more, not opening her eyes for several minutes.

She only peeked when she heard D.A. say, "Your aura is red."

Letting herself look, Haruhi saw that a scythe, the perfect shape, weight, and size for her, was in her hand, and she couldn't help but let a small, proud smile escape onto her lips.

"That was quick. Have you done this before?"

"No, not that I know of…"

"Really? You must just be a natural then, I suppose. But now comes the easier part; learning how to summon and call off your scythe."

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><p>The Grim Reaper crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently in the elevator of mirrors. "Can't this stupid thing go any faster?"<p>

"Kyouya," a voice belonging to the air, but sounded like Death reprimanded, "I can hear everything you say~! Please don't be rude."

Kyouya took off his hood and simply scowled, knowing better than to try and talk back, instead remaining silent for the rest of the trip.

When the doors opened, he didn't hesitate, walking into a small waiting area, and opening the large, elaborate mahogany door.

He walked up to the oversized desk, Death sitting behind it, leaning back in his leather chair, loafers on the table, a pencil balanced between his lips and nose. Death was going cross-eyed, trying to see the wooden pencil as it wobbled.

Looking over to the Grim Reaper standing in front of him, he placed the pencil on the table, taking his feet off the desk and greeting, "Kyouya! I trust the mission went well?" He rested his chin on his bridge of interlaced fingers.

Kyouya didn't answer, instead throwing the white, slightly yellow-tinted feather to the desk, which didn't work out too well considering after his violent throw it still floated gracefully down.

Death looked down at the feather, up at Kyouya, back at the feather, to Kyouya, feather, and finally rested his gaze on Kyouya. "I appreciate the thought, dear Kyouya," he began, his smile never faltering, "But I don't need a feather."

"You know this is an angel's feather." Kyouya slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his serious tone and expression countering Death's childishness. "After I defeated the Lust demon, this feather was left. That can only mean-"

"An angel created the demon and sent it out!" Death cut him off, taking the feather and holding it up to the light, smiling wider as he examined it. "Kyouya, my boy, this is exactly what I needed!" Still holding the feather up, Death's white eyes flickered over to the boy with black hair and gray eyes. "I'll call for the bearer of this feather immediately. You're dismissed."

He watched as Kyouya took his leave, calling out to him, "I hope after this you feel simply…_heavenly_!" He ignored Kyouya's visible cringe and audible groan, listening to the door slam shut.

Turning back to the feather, Death chuckled, mumbling, "Let's see you try and explain this, Life."

* * *

><p><strong>The plot, man. <em>The plot<em>.**

**Haha, yes, we'll be diving in soon, once Haruhi familiarizes herself. That was a lot of information thrown at her (and you) so I imagine it would take a while to get used to it and all that jazz.**

**I wanted this chapter, at least in the beginning, to feel a little bit confusing and jumpy, yet still blending in with what D.A. was saying so that you weren't too lost.**

**The next chapter will most likely still stay away from the main plot, getting down some more character development, interaction, and hopefully should complete Haruhi's training. I say "should" because I didn't plan it out. I really didn't plan out a lot of this story. Making up a bit as I go along. I'm sticking to a vague idea, though.**

**Should be fun.**

**And you noticed that it took me a bit longer to post this chapter up. Mostly because from here on out I'm going to be having less time (with reality being a pain, as it always is) and going to have to think more about _what_ I'm writing/including/the hell I'm thinking/etc. Not to mention I plan to have chapters longer than in the beginning, and perhaps longer than this. We shall see.**

**At any rate, read and review!**


	6. There's a Uniform?

_Chapter 6: There's a Uniform?_

"This is the wardrobe. You'll need to find a girl's uniform in your size, a belt, and clock. Your belt will make you invisible to mortals, and your clock will help with your powers."

Haruhi nodded, feeling at least a little more confident now. She could summon a scythe, the energy she had gained from the tea was still holding up, and things had begun to settle in her mind.

So long as she pushed the thought that this was permanent out of her head, she no longer felt the need to panic and hyperventilate.

D.A. kept walking down the long hall, which consisted of dressing stalls on one side, and cabinets and shelves supposedly holding clothes on the other.

"Yo, D! Newbie!"

The two girls turned to find that Hikaru and Kaoru had entered from one of the mirrors at the opposite end of the hall.

Hikaru leaned down, brushing dust off his shoes, Kaoru coughing and brushing off his shirt.

D.A. cocked her head to the side. "Why are you two dusty?" she asked, blinking.

Bitterly, Hikaru straightened, complaining, "Death made us start cataloging the archives for no reason. Son of a bitch is too lazy to do it himself."

"You have a rather bad memory; you keep forgetting he can hear you," D.A. reminded him innocently, watching as Hikaru paled visibly.

Kaoru said, taking a step closer to his twin, "Death needs to speak to you, D. Something important."

D.A. nodded, looking over at Haruhi. "These two will help." Beginning her way back down the hall and towards a mirror, she called over her shoulder, "Haruhi's learned all about her scythe, but still needs a uniform, belt, and clock. Don't scare her."

The twins blinked, exchanging a glance and repeating, visibly surprised, "_Her_?" But D.A. had already disappeared through a mirror, leaving the two alone with Haruhi, whom they now realized was in fact, a female.

Quick to recover, Hikaru and Kaoru set to work, their eyes determined, Haruhi's head spinning as she was pulled this way and that, clothes being held up to her to see if they were close, and then finally an outfit identical to D.A.'s, combat boots, and a clear clock and belt were shoved into her hands, and she was shown (read as "pushed by the twins") to a dressing stall.

Haruhi set the pile and shoes down, leaning against the wall and taking a deep breath. Changing, she took a look at herself in the mirror, watching as the clock and belt took on a deep red hue. Compared to other recent events, the color changing was as normal as waking up every morning.

"You done yet, newbie?"

Only one voice yelled at her, and Haruhi decided that it was probably Hikaru, as she had noticed his voice was lower, and harsher. She stepped out of the stall, finding that she was correct; only Hikaru stood in the hall, arms crossed, foot tapping impatiently.

He frowned. "The hell took you so long?"

Deciding to ignore his question, as Haruhi knew perfectly well she had changed in record time, she countered, "Where's Kaoru?"

"He's going to find a room for you, newbie. 'Till then, we'll have to wait."

Haruhi raised a brow. "I have a name, you know."

Hikaru mirrored her lifted eyebrow. "Do I _look_ like I care?"

For some reason, it irritated him when she shrugged, turning away to examine the hall. What, was the floor suddenly more interesting than him? His ego couldn't handle it. But how the hell was he supposed to redirect her attention without seeming like he wanted her to pay attention to him?

"…You look like a boy." Oh yeah, smooth as ever.

The brunette blinked. "I do?" she asked, turning her gaze back to him.

He felt a blush rising to his cheeks, and he cursed his stupidity, his way with words (and lack thereof), and the fact that he was so pale. "I-I just mean-" he grew frustrated, and gave a diva huff, acting as though Haruhi was just _impossible_, "I just mean that you could look cute if you tried, but you don't, so you look like a guy."

Gauging her reaction, he found that Haruhi's face remained more or less blank. "I don't really care about appearances, it's what's on the inside that counts," she explained, picking at her sleeves.

Back to square one: awkward silence. _Damn it, Kaoru, _Hikaru thought, _Come save me from this weird girl already._

* * *

><p>D.A. entered Death's office, seeing a rare sight, an angel, sitting already. She quickly walked past him, and took her customary place, standing next to Death's desk. Her eyes flickered between Death, a feather on his desk, and the angel.<p>

The angel was, as most angels seemed to be, was dashingly handsome, like a prince. His blond locks were fine and long, his eyes an exotic shade of indigo. He wore the customary all white, including a long coat, slacks, and dress shoes. Besides the soft glow around him, the cream-tinted halo floating above his head signified his position as a servant of Life herself.

"Well then," Death leaned forward in his chair, fanged smile in place, "Let's get the introductions over with, shall we?" Gesutring to D.A., he said, "This is D.A., my first and most trusted Grim Reaper, made by your boss, the PMS-ing Life-" Pointing to himself, he continued, the malicious undertone in his voice becoming evident, "And I'm Death, the immortal who's wondering why an angel would have created a Lust demon to try and kill one of my Reapers. And who might you be?"

"Tamaki Suoh." Although he spoke with as much confidence as one of high society would, it was clear he was more than a little intimidated. "First Rank Angel."

"Oooh, a First Rank!" Death looked up at D.A., his eyes twinkling. "This is the first time we've had the pleasure of speaking to someone so high up. No wonder the craftsmanship on the Demon was flawless."

D.A. could only infer that the feather belonged to this angel, Tamaki, and that it was left behind by a Demon. Nodding, she added, "We've either spoken to Life or Third Ranks."

"I would just like to say," Tamaki piped up nervously, "That I have no idea what you're talking about."

"But don't you?" Death asked, staring him down.

The blond gulped. "I don't."

"Are you quite sure?"

"Positive."

"One hundred percent?"

"Yes."

"So then you don't, not have a clue as to what this isn't?"

"Ye-um…" He sat, confused, mulling it over in his head and trying to make sense of what Death just said. Tamaki opened and closed his mouth multiple times in an attempt to answer, and he looked almost like a fish, gasping for air.

Death couldn't be happier. He turned to D.A., childish delight written all over his face, squealing, "He's so confused! Don't you just love it?"

"Not especially."

"Oh, you're no fun, D." He watched as Tamaki continued to struggle with the question, taking it rather seriously. Clapping his hands together and snapping the angel out of his concentration, Death chirped, "All right, you're free to go."

Tamaki blinked, muttering an unintelligent, "Huh?"

"Yup, you're innocent." Death shrugged. "Must just be a coincidence. You don't seem to have the best of luck. Besides, don't want to keep you away for too long."

Not wanting to test his luck, Tamaki jumped out of his seat, his long legs carrying him to the door in seconds. "Thank you," he called over his shoulder, more out of habit than anything else.

After the door slammed shut, Death fell back in his chair, letting out a breath and rubbing his temples. D.A. automatically went to one of the bookshelves on the side, brewing some tea and pouring it into one of the cups set up.

"Honestly, they get dumber every time," Death grumbled, accepting the tea when offered.

D.A. thought for a bit. "Is this what mortals mean by 'dumb blonds'?"

"Suppose so." Taking a long sip, Death let the drink refresh him, helping him return back to his "cheerful" self. "How's Haruhi doing?"

"She's adjusting rather well. I left her with the twins. She should be starting training soon, after a good rest."

"Perfect. I'll need you to speed up her training, and take her out with you on assignments as soon as possible. If I'm going to get an earful from Life about sending for one of her angels without telling her, I might as well not have her chew me off about creating you."

D.A. nodded, making her way to the door. "I'll take my leave, then."

"Oh, and D.A.?"

As she opened the door, she looked back at Death, sitting in his chair, cup of tea in hand, smiling at her. "Yes?"

He grinned wider, and she knew the expression all too well; time for another pun. "I hope this meeting was simply…angelic."

"Your jokes have improved," she stated blandly.

"Have they? I think so, too."

Without even knowing it, D.A., for once, showed some emotion, a small, sincere smile pulling the corners of her lips up. Then it was gone, and she had closed the door, and Death had gone back to reading the obituaries.

This instant probably best summed up their relationship. While on the surface, it seemed like a typical boss-subordinate type of friendship, it was actually something deeper, more like a family bond, that while it not always showed, it was still present, and made for moments like these.

It was thinking about this father-daughter relationship that often caused D.A. to wonder what it would be like to have had an actual family, or childhood.

* * *

><p>"Right, so here's your room."<p>

Haruhi let her eyes sweep over, seeing it was much like D.A.'s, but the desk in the corner was empty.

Kaoru began as Haruhi walked around, "You're probably starting to feel a little tired-"

"Especially after learning how to teleport," Hikaru added.

"So get some sleep, and D.A. will come get you to start training."

Haruhi nodded, letting her hand trace circles into the bed sheets. "Thank you."

Hikaru scowled, looking away and mumbling, "Whatever, newbie."

The two teleported, leaving behind blue and orange smoke, and leaving Haruhi to collapse onto the bed, trying to shove the recent events out of her mind in an attempt to doze off.

* * *

><p>"So, how do you like her, Hika?"<p>

"She's weird."

"But do you like her?"

"We don't need her. We're doing just fine as it is."

"You keep avoiding my question."

"Fine, I don't like her, jeez…And what about you?"

"Huh?"

"How do you feel about the newbie?"

"Not sure yet."

"Fair enough."

"You know, she might be a good model, though…"

"And not a half bad toy…"

"What are you two conspiring now?"

"Welcome back, Kyouya."

"How was the assignment?"

"Ask D.A."

"Why?"

"I'm not certain myself, but I do know I shouldn't be given out details."

"Aw, well now we're curious, Kyouya!"

"Killed the cat."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. What were you two saying?"

"We got a new recruit; girl named Haruhi."

"Interesting. Last name?"

"...Can't remember..."

"...Something like Fudgy Okra..."

"Seems you two are useful as ever. Has D.A. returned?"

"Should be here soon."

"Excellent, I'll ask her. You two were sent to catalogue the archives earlier, weren't you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Go finish the job."

"Make us."

"Very well, shall I tell Death that-"

"Okay, okay, we're going."

"Bastard..."

"What was that, Hikaru?"

"Nothing!"

"Thought so."

* * *

><p><strong>Fffff- so late! Sorry, but with Halloween coming up, and the school play, and homework, and procrastination, and, and...<strong>

**So yeah. Here ya go. Have at it.**

**Also, while I was proofreading, my computer randomly decided to update and restart itself, and I'm in a bad mood from a bad day, so I honestly didn't feel like really editing. So if you find an error, wait until tomorrow to tell me, because I'm afraid I'll only blow up in your face right now.**

**Winning an argument by confusing people is incredibly enjoyable; I highly recommend it.**

**Mmmm...Fudgy Okra...**

**Until next time, read and enjoy!**


	7. Did I Kill It?

_Chapter 7: Did I Kill It?_

Haruhi fell in and out of sleep multiple times, her nightmares and dreams clashing and blending in her mind, making one big mess of thoughts. When she awoke, she couldn't recall anything specific, only the fact she was happy at one point, and it was nice to hang on to the feeling.

"Shall we start your training now?"

She nearly had a heart attack (although she wasn't sure if that was possible now, what with the whole "being half-dead" thing) when she heard D.A. Said girl was sitting in one of the armchairs, watching her with unblinking eyes, causing Haruhi to wonder how long she had been sitting there, watching her…

"Why did you shudder? It's not cold."

"No reason," she fibbed, slowly climbing out of the covers and sliding off the bed. Haruhi rubbed her eyes, asking, "What do you mean by training?"

D.A. stood as well, explaining, "We have a few demon simulations you'll need to fight; until you're ready, anyway. If we sent you on a mission now, you would probably die. That would be a shame." Without waiting for a response, D.A. took Haruhi by the wrist, white and black smoke encircling them and Haruhi finding herself in a room that almost reminded her of a large room in an asylum, with red padded walls, but the black and white tiles still being used for flooring.

Haruhi was glad that she wasn't feeling as nauseated as before, but asked D.A., "I thought I could teleport just fine, now."

"You can, but only to places you've been to before, remember?"

"So this is the new recruit. Pleasure to meet you."

Haruhi watched as a boy with black hair, gray eyes, glasses, and a dark purple belt and clock approached them, smirking. He stopped when he was a few feet in front of them, and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. D.A. introduced him. "Haruhi, this is Kyouya." Directing her attention to the bespectacled boy, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I would see the newest Reaper for myself. I figured you would be having her fight right about now." He looked down at the brunette, asking casually, "Do you have any experience with fighting with weapons, or hand to hand combat?"

She shook her head. "Not unless you count a self-defense class my school sponsored."

"I don't." He pulled out a small black notebook from his back pocket, along with a pen, and began jotting down notes. His presence made her a little uneasy, as Haruhi could practically feel a cold, calculating aura coming off of him. She shuddered when his glasses caught a glint, hiding his eyes when he warned her, "Then you're going to be in a bit of pain for a while."

Putting his notebook and pen back in his pocket, D.A. grabbed his left arm, causing him to wince slightly and show the first sign of real emotion slip past his cool façade. "You're hurt," she commented, examining the deep cuts on his forearm. She lifted her other hand, a white aura now radiating off of it, and passed it back and forth, and inch above his arm, Haruhi's eyes widening slightly as she watched the wound heal and disappear.

"Can all Reapers do that?" she asked in slight amazement. If she could heal others that easily before all this, it would have saved all those children's lives.

D.A. shook her head no. "Just me. Death made Life give me healing and resurrection powers, which only Angels should have, hence my title, and therefore Life made it so I had no emotions, so I wouldn't feel sympathy and resurrect every soul I was sent to collect. However, after such a long time dealing with humans, I do seem to be developing feelings. It's quite exciting."

Kyouya rubbed his arm, checking to make sure it was completely healed. "Therefore D.A. can create Demons, like some First Rank Angels can, which will help with your training," he added.

His comment piqued Haruhi's interest as she parroted, "First Rank Angels?"

"Don't worry about it," Kyouya told her, beginning to make his way to the side of the room, "I might tell you later. Just focus on not getting killed."

"Right." Haruhi gulped, trying to calm her nerves.

D.A. smiled at the girl, soothing, "Don't worry, I'll start you off with an easy Sloth Demon. They're big, easy to hit, slow, and rarely attack. Summon your scythe."

Haruhi did as she was told, closing her eyes and imagining her scythe resting in her closed fist, and opened her eyes only when she felt it appear. She took the scythe in both hands, steadying her shaking nerves by focusing on gripping the weapon firmly.

"Red aura," Kyouya commented, pulling out his notebook once more and writing. "And she summoned it on the first try."

"She's a natural." D.A. had walked over to where he stood, leaning against the padded wall, a fair distance away from Haruhi. She cupped her hands and used them as a makeshift megaphone as she yelled, "If you're in trouble, yell, and I'll help you. Are you ready?"

"Y-Yeah!"

D.A. closed her eyes, holding both her hands out in front of her at hip level, at an angle to the floor. Not only were her hands enveloped in white aura, but her entire body was outlined in white, and Haruhi couldn't help but watch, mesmerized. However, she was quickly brought out of her trance when a white orb appeared ten yards in front of her, floating above the ground. She could see the silhouette of a gangly, four legged creature with the head of a goat.

The orb faded, the creature landing on the ground with a _thud_ and gaining color and details. It was light blue, with knobby knees and a long neck. The eyes were closed, and while Haruhi tried to get into what she thought was a fighting stance, all the Demon did was collapse on the ground.

Haruhi relaxed and practically face-palmed when she heard it began to snore. "This is it? Alright, guess I'm just supposed to cut it or, something…"

Walking up to the Sloth Demon, she still practiced caution, albeit she wasn't half as nervous as before. Raising her scythe, she let the blade come down on the Demon, expecting some grand burst of fire or ominous voice, but was instead greeted with-

Snoring. Haruhi felt a little embarrassed, Kyouya telling D.A., "She missed. Not exactly a natural when it comes to fighting."

This time, Haruhi concentrated a little more, and actually hit the Demon, jumping back when she saw black shadows taking over the body, eating away at it until they hit the floor, disappearing to wherever they had come from. "What was that?"

"That was Darkness!" D.A. shouted, not having heard Haruhi but assuming (correctly) that she wanted to know what the shadows were. "It's what Demons are made of, and when a Demon is destroyed, it reclaims the Darkness that was used to create it!" She added, causing Haruhi to take her fighting stance back up, "I'm going to create a Pride Demon now; they're more powerful and will actually put up a fight, so be careful!"

Again, D.A. was surrounded by white light, the orb appeared, but this time, a far different creature appeared. It was violet, and resembled more of a horse, with lavender spikes for a mane and tail, and beady black eyes. It was far taller than a horse, and skinnier, and the hooves came to points.

The Pride Demon charged, Haruhi diving out of the way and rolling on the ground, about to get up but the Demon being quicker and hitting her in the side, sending her flying into the padded wall. Recovering quickly, Haruhi steadied herself and aimed as the Demon charged again blindly, this time running straight into her blade and falling to the ground, Darkness soon covering the body.

And so it continued.

Haruhi fought multiple copies of not only the Sloth and Pride Demons, but also Gluttony, Lust, Greed, and Envy Demons. Gluttony Demons resembled brown, skinny pigs with humongous mouths and hanging, full bellies, Lust Demons resembled red cows with skinny bodies and muscular legs, Greed Demons were large yellow toads with their long, slimy tongues permanently hanging out of their mouths and dragging along the ground, and Envy Demons were green, overly muscular dogs.

Panting, Haruhi set her scythe on the ground and took a seat when D.A. told her it was time for a break. Kyouya and D.A. walked over to her, also taking a seat, Kyouya telling her, "You're improving."

Haruhi nodded as a sign of thanks, and asked between breaths, "Why do they all look like animals?"

"That's their most basic form," D.A. explained, leaning back and adding, "The longer a Demon has existed, the more its appearance changes to be more demon-like, and the less it resembles the animal. How it looks can also be influenced by the culture or sins committed by the people in the area, like Death."

Haruhi's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Kyouya asked, notebook and pen in hand once more, "How did Death act around your father, as opposed to his childish self now?"

"He was rather rude," Haruhi thought out loud, trying to remember. "Fairly harsh, unforgiving, and sadistic."

"I heard that! But it's okay, I'll let it slide."

Experiencing her second mini-heart attack, Haruhi looked all around her. "What was…" she trailed off, not sure she even wanted to know anymore.

"Death. He can hear everything we say and knows everything that happens in his headquarters." D.A. sat up, resting her hands in her lap as she continued, "But on another note, Death acted that way because your father probably sees Death as cruel."

"Oh." The three sat in silence for a bit, D.A. content with looking around and entertaining herself, Kyouya reading over past entries in his notebook, and Haruhi closing her eyes and finally able to catch her breath. Thinking, she opened her brown doe eyes and asked, "Have I fought every type of Demon?"

Kyouya and D.A. exchanged a glance, before Kyouya turned to her and said, "You haven't fought a Wrath Demon, yet. And you shouldn't."

"What's this about Wrath Demons?"

The three looked up and to the left when they heard Kaoru's voice, Hikaru next to him, orange and blue smoke fading around them. The twins came closer, Hikaru sneering, "So how's the newbie holding up? I see she managed to stay alive."

"She's decent," Kyouya told them, Haruhi feeling strange about listening to their conversation about her.

Kaoru smiled. "So we can drag her around on missions, now?"

"I'll be taking her on a few soon, after a little more practice," D.A. explained. "We were just telling Haruhi that she won't be fighting any Wrath Demons today."

Hikaru's eyes glinted dangerously, and he purred, "But what about Kaoru and I…?"

For once, D.A.'s gaze hardened and she delivered a firm, "No." Haruhi was surprised to see her so serious, and supposed she really was developing emotions. "You know full well even Kyouya can't take one on yet."

"Not easily, at least," Kyouya mumbled, making Haruhi bite back a chuckle at his hurt ego.

"Please, D? We've improved, and we'll fight together and be extra careful!" the two simultaneously pleaded, giving her their best puppy-dog faces.

Kaoru added, "Besides, shouldn't Haruhi-"

"-At least know what they look like?" Hikaru finished.

D.A. stood up, sighing. "Five minutes. If you aren't winning after five minutes, I'm stepping in." She added with a blank look, "And don't do anything stupid on purpose to get yourselves killed or I won't heal you and just let you writhe in pain."

"Have we ever told you how awesome you are?"

Haruhi blinked, standing along with Kyouya and asking, "What's the big deal? Is it really that hard to fight?"

"Yes," Kyouya told her, smirking, "So this should prove to be entertaining."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm back, baby!<strong>

**...Sort of...**

**I'll be updating more quickly, at least. Hopefully. Maybe. At any rate, no more unofficial hiatus for me for a while. I'm getting back into the flow of things, so hopefully updates will come more frequently, although it'll still be rather sporadic.**

**Death won't be around for the next two chapters, I believe, but the fight is next, so hopefully it'll be entertaining like Kyouya promised. Don't worry, the twins will be safe, that's for sure. ;]**

**Until next time, read and enjoy!**


	8. Did You Feel That Wrath?

_Chapter 8: Did You Feel That Wrath?_

Once Haruhi, Kyouya, and D.A. were safely on the side, Hikaru and Kaoru grinned at each other, summoning their scythes, orange aura surrounding Kaoru's hand and blue surround Hikaru's, until their weapons appeared.

D.A. yelled, using her hands as a megaphone again, "Five minutes, okay? And it's in the basic form!"

"Yeah, yeah, we got it! Just create it already!"

Closing her eyes, D.A. concentrated, squeezing her eyes shut and focusing much more intently then she had for the previous Demons. Haruhi watched in slight awe as an orb twice as big as the others formed, and the silhouette of a huge bear appeared. When it landed on the ground, Haruhi couldn't help but feel her pulse quicken and her palms begin to sweat.

It was a bear, alright, but like none she had ever seen. It was easily larger than five bears combined, and the fur looked like it was on fire, a mess of bright oranges, yellows, and reds. The claws were long and sharpened to a point, and the Demon's teeth were so large they literally began to grow to be longer than its mouth could fit. However, the twins didn't look intimidated, but instead determined, widening their stances slightly, back to back.

Haruhi looked to Kyouya, asking, "Are you sure we're safe over here?"

"With D.A. and me, you have nothing to worry about," he told her, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, the lenses glinting.

The Demon gave a mighty roar, Haruhi feeling her body vibrate from it, and then it charged, straight for the twins, pure malice flashing in its soulless eyes. The two were quick and jumped apart in time to miss its charge, and raised their scythes to come down and cut the bear. However, in the mere second it took to bring their blades down, the bear was already out of the way. Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other in amazement, and even from a distance Haruhi could tell they were thinking something like "We missed?"

"But those two screwed themselves over."

Before the twins could completely recover, the Wrath Demon was charging again, hitting them both dead-on and sending them flying to the other side of the room, the only thing that stopped them being the padded wall. They landed on the floor, this time more prepared and running towards the Demon in perfect synchronization, jumping when they neared it and aiming to hit its back. However, the Demon seemed to be three steps ahead of them and rose onto its back legs, raising its claw and swiping, hitting Hikaru, and using the other paw to capture Kaoru.

Hikaru gracefully back-flipped in the air and landed on his feet, wasting no time in running and aiming for the paw that held his brother captive, Kaoru trying to wriggle out of the Demon's grasp but failing, his arms pinned to his sides.

Seeing Hikaru jumping again into the air, the Demon threw Kaoru right into him, so the two collided and landed on the hard tile floor, and then rolling out of the way just before the Demon brought its paw down, shaking the entire room. When the Demon raised its paw, there was not a dent, but a crater where it had made contact with the floor.

"Two minutes," D.A. whispered with a blank face. "Considering they aren't dead yet, they're doing rather well."

Kyouya added casually, "I admit, they've improved since the last time I saw them fighting."

Haruhi didn't understand how they could be so nonchalant about this, but then she didn't understand half of anything that happened around her now, so she remained silent, watching as the twins continued to fight in perfect harmony, but always being hit by the Demon before they could land a hit. "How is it so strong?"

"Wrath Demons are created because of people's desire to cause harm," Kyouya explained, his eyes on the fight as Hikaru and Kaoru once again hit the black and white tiles, this time the Demon coming down and pinning them with a paw. "So naturally, they're perfectly designed for just that."

"Times up," D.A. whispered, sprinting and holding her right arm out, white aura surrounding it until her scythe appeared. Wasting no time, as the bear was raising its other paw, preparing for the strike that would no doubt kill the twins, D.A. slid in close to its legs, swinging her scythe with so much force it knocked the Demon off-balance, causing it to release his hold on the twins and collapse on its side, surprising it and granting them a few seconds, D.A. ordering Hikaru and Kaoru, "Run." The two were happy to oblige, calling off their scythes and making for the hills, running towards Haruhi and Kyouya.

"Now," Kyouya said, the twins catching their breath next to Haruhi, D.A. watching the Demon get up, her scythe in one hand, the other clenched in a fist. The bear gave another roar, but D.A. was unmoved. "Starts the real show."

D.A. raised her scythe with both hands as the Demon swiped at her, and she struggled to block it, sweating as she held his paw off with her scythe. Before he could bring the other down to strike, she kicked off the ground, into the air and onto his arm, sprinting up and jumping to cut his eyes, the Demon roaring in pain and swiping blindly in the air, hitting her and sending her whirling like a top on her side, but she landed on her feet, and quickly ran towards it, aiming for one of its front legs when it came back down to stand on all four.

The Demon swiped at her right side and she dodged, turning and cutting its paw, then turning once more to cut the other that it attacked her with, so it collapsed back onto the floor, roaring and unable to put up much more of a fight, having gone blind and not able to use both front paws or hold itself up. D.A. turned to face it and raising her scythe as high as she could, brought it down, finishing it off in the head, and remaining frozen in position with her scythe down as the Darkness came to reclaim the bear, the Demon defeated.

Haruhi could still feel her heart racing, and so could the twins, Kyouya only smirking. "Record time," he noted, writing something in his notebook while the other three could only watch with wide eyes as D.A. straightened and called off her scythe.

She turned and walking back to the others, saying innocently, "Well, that was a work-out. Let me see your wounds."

Both had suffered major cuts and bruising, Hikaru mainly on his left side, Kaoru on his right. Haruhi watched D.A. heal them, noticing this, and realized that they fought side by side, and always as though they could read each other's minds, always in sync; their bond had to be stronger than she could imagine.

Once she had finished, D.A. looked at Haruhi. "And that's why you can't fight a Wrath Demon right now," she told her with a sort of finality, and Haruhi nodded, showing her agreement.

"Honestly," the brunette asked the twins, who were standing and stretching, rubbing their poor backs that had been smacked against the walls and floor, "why did you want to fight that thing?"

They both grinned, although winced in pain a moment later from straightening, their backs not agreeing with them. "Because we almost had it that time."

"That's debatable," Kyouya muttered.

Hikaru snarled, "Well let's see you try, Kyouya."

D.A. looked at Hikaru with a blank expression. "I'm not going to conjure up another Wrath Demon, if that's what you're implying." She held out a hand to Haruhi, helping her up and telling her, "I think it's time to get back to your training."

"And for us to leave," Kyouya added, giving the twins a pointed look.

"No fair," Hikaru whined, adding, giving Haruhi a smirk, "I wanted to see how much the newbie sucked."

"Considering all the errors you two made in your fight, I don't think you're in a position to say that." Kyouya grabbed both their wrists, purple smoke surrounding the three as they disappeared, D.A. and Haruhi watching.

Haruhi turned to the other girl, asking, "How can you fight like that?"

"I was created to have improved strength, speed, and jumping ability," D.A. explained, "Although I've been doing this since almost the beginning of time, so the extra experience has helped."

_No kidding_. Haruhi summoned her scythe. "Guess I should keep practicing, then."

D.A. blinked. "Would you like to pick which Demon you fight first?"

"Surprise me." As she turned to make her way to the center of the room, she stopped, asking, "Actually, um, what about the giant dent in the floor?"

"Oh, better fix that. Can you help?"

"Sure."

Once the two were in the center of the room, Haruhi set down her scythe and they held out their hands, imagining the floor becoming its former self and watching as it repaired, rising and piecing back together. Once they had finished, D.A. began the walk back to the side of the room, telling Haruhi, "By the way, you're probably going to be in excruciating pain by the time we're finished. Just a fair warning."

"Fantastic."

"Really? I didn't think you would be happy about it."

"That was sarcasm."

"Oh, I'm not very good with that. At any rate, are you ready?"

Haruhi smiled, surprised to find herself almost beginning to enjoy this. Maybe she was getting used to everything, finally. Maybe she was losing her mind. Or maybe, just maybe, this is what she was meant to be doing for the rest of eternity. She picked up her scythe and got into her stance.

"Ready."

* * *

><p><strong>Warning: Don't fight Wrath Demons at home.<strong>

**This chapter was fun to write, if only to practice writing action. Hopefully you could read all that and picture everything going on; otherwise, constructive criticism and tips are always appreciated.**

**I'm going to try and update all my stories Mondays, so let's see how long I can keep that up.**

**Until next time, read and enjoy!**


	9. Want to Go to Singapore?

_Chapter 9: Want to Go to Singapore?_

Haruhi was panting, and after calling off her scythe bent over, putting her hands on her knees, trying to regain normal breathing. She was sore all over, although with no major injuries.

D.A. cocked her head to the side. "You seem like you're in pain. Are you?"

"A-a little…mostly just exhausted."

"Very well then. Sleep it off, and then meet me in the common room. It's time for an assignment."

* * *

><p>"Where are the others?"<p>

"I'm not sure; probably in Europe or Africa."

Haruhi stretched, looking around the empty room. It was the same as where she had first found D.A., although the clothing and sketchpad was gone. There were also two gargoyles on pedestals, their eyes glowing red. D.A. approached the one on the left, speaking clearly, "State assignment."

"Skraah! Two souls in Honolulu, Hawaii. Both are possible Envy Demon threats, skraah!"

Approaching the gargoyle on the right, D.A. repeated, "State assignment."

"Skraah! One soul in Singapore. Possible Greed Demon threat, skraah!"

D.A. turned to Haruhi behind her, staring at her. Haruhi shifted her weight, eyes flickering to the left awkwardly, until she asked the other girl, "What?"

"Do you have a preference? This is technically your assignment, after all."

"I've never even been outside of Japan…" Haruhi looked between the two statues, unsure. But then again, did it really matter? She figured she might as well go with the simpler one, telling D.A., "I guess Singapore."

"Alright then. Place your hand on top of the gargoyle." After Haruhi had done as she was told, D.A. placed her hand on top of hers, and said, "You'll probably get pretty queasy. Just try not to puke."

"Will do."

Looking back to the gargoyle, D.A. commanded, "Transport to site of soul."

"Skraah! Transporting!"

It was more or less like normal teleporting, but longer, and Haruhi didn't dare open her eyes, feeling wind rushing up past her and blowing what little hair she had up and out of her face. When she opened her brown eyes, she saw they were behind police tape, spectators and reporters opposite them.

"How can they not see us?"

D.A. told her, turning away and walking into the alley behind them, "Your clock. It conceals you from mortals and allows you to be intangible to them, so long as it's around your neck."

"What happens if it's not?"

Haruhi could hear her footsteps stop, and she listened for D.A.'s voice. After a few moments, it came, replying, "That would be a problem."

Deciding she wouldn't get any answer more specific than that, Haruhi turned and caught up to the other girl, who had stopped, and was looking at something. While she was walking, she passed by officers, overhearing their conversations. Unfortunately, she had no idea what they were saying, and wasn't curious enough to try and find out.

"Are you okay with blood?"

The brunette blinked. "Why?" she asked suspiciously, although she knew exactly where this was getting at.

"Oh, there's just a lot."

_Great_. Haruhi steeled herself, taking a deep breath and stepping closer, the body coming into view.

D.A. commented, "You're holding up pretty well. Better than Hikaru and Kaoru, anyway. They vomited at their first assignment, although there aren't any severed limbs this time around-hey, Haruhi, are you okay? You look a little faint."

And upon seeing the lifeless body, the new recruit promptly passed out.

* * *

><p>Haruhi could feel her mind coming out of unconsciousness, so that she felt she was drifting in a sea of black. She could faintly feel a mattress beneath her, and something cold and wet pressed to her forehead. She could begin to make out voices.<p>

"Is she awake yet?"

"Shh-Hikaru, she still looks pale; she needs rest."

"She's immortal. Give her some of that magic tea crap and she'll be good as new."

"It's a little more complicated than that. Don't you remember how we felt the first time we saw a dead body?"

She recognized them. Hikaru and Kaoru, right, the twins. What were they doing here? Where was she, in the first place? The girl's eyes began to twitch, preparing to open.

"…Uh, no. But didn't you barf?"

"I distinctly remember us _both_ vomiting."

"No, I'm pretty sure it was just you."

"If anything, you puked before me."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Haruhi's eyes fluttered open, and she squinted, groaning from the sudden light. Hikaru and Kaoru turned, the latter sitting on a chair next to the bed, the former leaning against the left wall. Kaoru gave her a small smile, saying, "You passed out. You're in your room now."

"How?"

"D brought you back here after she collected the soul." Kaoru lifted plastic bag of ice wrapped in a towel off of her forehead, asking, "Feel any better?"

As Haruhi opened her mouth to respond, Hikaru scoffed. "She's fine," he replied for her. His glaring eyes caught hers for a moment, and his narrowed before he turned away, pouting. Haruhi only blinked and kept on staring at him, utterly confused.

Kaoru rolled his eyes, placing the cold press on the bedside table and standing up, going over to Hikaru. They began to whisper, Hikaru clearly upset and Kaoru calm. Haruhi couldn't hear much of the conversation, but she did manage to catch, "Be nice. She's our toy," and "Everyone's acting like she's dying."

It ended with Hikaru huffing and stomping over to her bed, where Haruhi had sat up by now, and mumbling, "Feel better." Without another word, he transported, leaving behind blue smoke.

"That could've gone better." Kaoru looked over at Haruhi, smiling apologetically and saying, "If you feel better, head back to the common room. If not, make some tea. Sorry, but I have to go after Hikaru, he's having a fit."

"A fit?" she parroted, only being confused further. She came to the conclusion, "He doesn't like me very much."

"Hikaru doesn't like most people very much. But he'll come around." At this, Kaoru came closer, a dangerous glint in his eye. When he was at Haruhi's right, he rested his hand on her bed, leaning in so their noses were almost touching. He whispered seductively, "After all, you're just too cute to not get closer to."

Haruhi seemed dubious. "Both of you insulted my looks before, especially Hikaru. And why do you feel the need to whisper?"

Kaoru leaned back, and it was his turn to blink. "Seriously?" He looked mildly amused, asking, "No reaction at all? No blush, no stuttering? What, am I not attractive or something?"

"I don't even know you, and yet you expect me to be in love with you? If anything, it shows you're arrogant. Besides, I honestly don't care about appearances."

The ginger only chuckled, and Haruhi watched as orange smoke swirled up his legs and around his torso as he gave her a few departing words, "Oh, you're going to be a fun toy, all right."

Only after he left, did Haruhi register his words.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

* * *

><p>D.A. watched as Death wrote silently on parchment with his quill. "So then she passed out?" he asked, looking up to his right to see her standing and seek her answer.<p>

"Yes. She should be doing fine now."

"Well, that's not too bad for her first time," he concluded, placing the quill in its ink bottle. He actually hadn't written anything of real importance on the paper, just some nonsense, but it always made him look just so official. "If anything it's simply…_stupor_."

"You have too much free time."

"Yes, but that's not necessarily a problem," he countered, smiling and leaning back in his chair, hands behind his head. And before he could release his latest pun on her, there was a distinct thud, followed by a female voice yelling something indiscernible that caused Death to turn even paler, his smile to disappear, and his eyes to widen. "That, on the other hand, is."

D.A. only looked at him, asking, "Should I take Haruhi on an assignment?"

"No time. Get out of here, teleport somewhere, before Life comes in here with the world's worst case of PMS."

She nodded, gone in a flash and the smoke disappearing just before a woman and two young men burst into his office. The two boys were definitely angels, First Rank, probably bodyguards, one of them tall, dark, and serious, the other short, childish, and hugging a stuffed rabbit. The woman herself was beautiful, with a kind, oval face, warm green eyes, full pink lips, and long, curly brown hair. Her sundress was a brilliant azure, simple and outlining her curves, and her gladiator sandals were a warm, sunshine yellow. If her face wasn't red, her hands weren't clenched into fists, and her eyes didn't have a murderous quality to them, she would look rather beautiful and comforting, like a mother. But at the moment, Death couldn't help but compare her to a wolverine.

Slamming her hands onto his desk, Death flinched, but never broke eye contact when she glared him, snarling in his face, "What are you doing, going behind my back and interrogating one of my highest-ranking Angels?"

"And a fine day to you, too, Life."

* * *

><p><strong>Let's pretend this didn't take forever to write, shall we?<strong>

**Originally, Death didn't make an appearance, and neither did Life. Actually, this was going to end after Kaoru left Haruhi alone in her room, but then Death and Life simply demanded they be put in, and I had to comply. At any rate, yes, yes, that's Hunny and Mori.**

**Next chapter will feature Angels, Where's D.A.?, and macaroons, oh my.**

**Until next time, read and enjoy!**


	10. DA Was Sabotaged?

**Okay, so I would like to tell you that I went on some grand, world adventure to end world hunger or something, but in actuality school has just been killing me lately, and I don't want to waste more of your time, so let's get on with the chapter, shall we?**

* * *

><p><em><span>Chapter 10: D.A. Was Sabotaged?<span>_

"Honestly Death, you've only gotten worse over the millennia!"

The immortal only watched as Life paced back and forth in front of his desk, her two bodyguards standing by the door, watching. Once Life was upset, she was a force to be reckoned with, and no one wanted to try and calm her for fear of her attacks being turned on them. "I'm left to wonder where one of my First Rank Angels has run off to, only to find out hours later that he's blubbering like an idiot about not knowing what something isn't, or something like that, and you've been messing with his mind. I swear, you can never leave me alone, and you're never satisfied with what you have or what I give! You made me create D.A., whom you _still_ haven't given a proper name to, and you made me give her powers that only true Angels and I should have; it's a clear sign you're trying to overthrow me, and you can be damn sure I won't be sitting idly by. This is the last straw, I want to know what you're planning behind my back, and I want the whole truth about it."

"Life-"

"I honestly don't understand what your obsession is with trying to overthrow me! You just can't get it through your naïve mind that the world needs both of us to survive, and you need to get over your ego and stop abusing your power."

"_Life_-"

"Ever since Day One, you've had it out for me. Are you simply jealous of my ability to create something as beautiful as life, while all you can do is destroy it? Or is it the fact that I have millions of Angels who love and work for me, while the only way you can get followers is through fear and intimidation, not to mention the fact that you have so few?"

"…Are you finished?"

"…Yes."

"Good. Then have a seat and let's talk over some tea and macaroons."

* * *

><p>Haruhi was feeling better, but just to be sure, she had tried making some tea, as D.A. had before to give her energy. She opened up one of the kitchen cabinets, finding the cups, plates, and bowls. Setting one tea cup on the counter, and filling the tea pot with water, she continued looking for the actual tea leaves. In the last of four cabinets, she found little paper bags all filled with different tea leaves, and labeled rather strangely. One read "Scars" another "Disguise" and Haruhi swore she saw one that had "Haircut" on it.<p>

Clearly, Death put a little something extra in all his tea.

She picked up one of the bags on the bottom shelf, labeled "General Health". Looking on the back of the bag, she found the amount she should use (five leaves) and opened the bag, her eyes watered from the strong smell, and she coughed, choking on the incredibly powerful sweetness that had clogged her nose.

Once Haruhi had regained her sense of smell, she carefully felt around for five leaves, not wanting to put her face right over the bag again. The contents at least _felt_ normal enough, but when she pulled out the tea leaves, all five looked like peacock feathers. Immediately, Haruhi was skeptical.

"They're probably drugged," she mused to herself, putting the bag back in its place, but still holding the peacock leaves she had picked. But then what was it D.A. had told her before? "It's a special brew Death created. He loves tea."

Come to think of it, nothing around here was very normal, and if Death was involved, it was almost guaranteed to be downright strange. Besides, he wouldn't harm his own reapers. Haruhi sighed, still not sure, but dropping the leaves into the tea pot anyway, and then setting it to boil.

She watched as the pot began to whistle, and turning off the heat, she slowly poured the tea into her cup. Haruhi was half-expecting it to give off a pungent odor again, or explode, but it appeared to more or less be normal tea at this point. She took a deep breath, blew on it, and then took a sip.

Instantly, she felt invigorated, all the soreness disappearing, and she finished the cup of tea, not leaving a single drop.

And it was at this point, after she had cleaned the cup and set it in the sink, that Haruhi felt truly lost. All this time, someone would usually conveniently pop up and guide her to the next step. But as she stood there, looking around the room, she felt strangely alone and deserted.

Haruhi thought back to all the rooms she had visited, and settled on going to the common room. Wasn't that where everyone waited until the next assignment? It was worth a shot. Closing her eyes, she pictured the room, and only let her eyelids lift when she felt solid ground under her feet once more.

Sure enough, Kyouya and the twins were sitting at the long table, the bespectacled boy writing something down in his little black journal, and Hikaru grumpily sketching while Kaoru whispered to him. She felt like she was interrupting them, and decided to not make her presence known. While she was sliding into a chair, however, the room began to shake like a miniature earthquake, and she couldn't help but let out a yelp, missing the chair and landing on the floor on her bottom, all eyes turning to look at her.

"Well look who finally decided to make an appearance," Hikaru grumbled while going back to his design, Kaoru rolling his eyes at his twin.

Kyouya gave her a superficial smile, commenting, "You look better. Besides falling just now, anyway."

"What _was_ that?"

"Life's here," Kaoru told her. "And in a bad mood."

"As per usual," Kyouya added, turning back to his writing.

Haruhi struggled to remember anything about Life as she took her seat, another tremor shaking the room shortly after. Kyouya seemed to sense her struggle to remember and nonchalantly explained, "Life is the opposite immortal of Death. She loves anything she creates, and dotes on her Angels, but can hardly stand anything to do with Death, including us Reapers."

"Especially D.A.," Kaoru spoke up, turning his attention temporarily from Hikaru to Haruhi. This seemed to annoy his twin to no end, and to show his silent anger, Hikaru pressed the pencil lead harder into the paper.

"Where is she?" Haruhi asked, figuring the others would know.

"No idea."

"No clue."

"Don't pretend like you care."

Haruhi looked at the three of them, genuinely surprised that D.A. would up and disappear. Deciding to ignore Hikaru's comment (a wise decision) she prodded, "Has she gone on an assignment, then?"

"On the contrary; she's hiding from Life." Kyouya slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Haruhi turning in her seat to face him and listen. "Life still holds a grudge over creating D.A.; after all, Death forced her to give D.A. powers of creation and resurrection that only Angels should have."

"Right, Angels."

Kaoru asked with an amused smile, "You don't know the first thing about Angels, do you?"

"No."

"Angels are to Life as Reapers are to Death; they're her assistants. Typically, they're the astonishingly beautiful, kind souls that tragically died and Life felt bad for, so she lets them live on and create, in a sense. They have five ranks and the higher up in rank they are, the stronger or more powers they have. Flight, creation of life, and resurrection are the main, although they have other useless powers. You can tell if someone's an angel usually by the fact that their good-looking, dressed in all white, have a glow around them, a halo, and they leave feathers freaking _everywhere_. It's their calling card; you can track down the Angel who created or changed something by the feather left behind after you destroy it."

Needless to say, the others would have been in shock if Hikaru had so much as not addressed Haruhi hostilely, let alone give her a full explanation without having been forced to. The only one not in the least bit surprised was Hikaru himself, who looked at the three others, and realizing his slip up, spat, "What? I'm not allowed to explain things? Is that only reserved for Kyouya and D.A.?" He stood and aimed as much annoyance as he could at Haruhi in his glare, trying to reinforce the idea that he didn't want her there.

Kaoru poked Hikaru's side, trying to lighten the mood. "Calm down, Hikaru, we're just a little shocked you spoke up."

Hikaru wasn't done with his bad mood, although he did sit back down as he scowled. "I'm capable of speaking, you know."

"Not when I'm around."

"What's that supposed to mean, newbie?"

Haruhi took a moment to gather her thoughts before replying matter-of-factly, "It's more like you're accusing or yelling at me than speaking, really. I'm not sure why you put up so much false anger."

The room was now dead silent, Hikaru and Haruhi simply staring at each other, Hikaru more wide-eyed and Haruhi simply returning his gaze. Kaoru had trouble stifling his laughter, and after a few pitiful attempts, he finally let himself chuckle, Hikaru now turning on him and snapping, "What the hell are you laughing about?"

"Your face," Kaoru told him without hesitation, "You went from all high and mighty to silent and surprised. Admit it, she got you."

"She didn't 'get me'; I didn't expect her to say anything."

Kyouya added smoothly, "But you don't disagree about putting up an act of anger to push her away."

"Wha-no, I really am pissed at her. God, when did you guys turn into freaking psychologists?"

Haruhi shook her head, asking, "I honestly don't understand why you're mad at me. What did I do wrong?"

Before Hikaru could even open his mouth to respond, Kyouya answered for him, "You took the spotlight away from him."

"Would you shut up?" Hikaru barked, although he instantly quieted when Kyouya raised a brow, as if challenging him to say something else disrespectful and anger him. Hikaru then turned to Haruhi, telling her less than politely, "You think you can just show up and be everyone's best friend, and try to get our sympathy."

"Are you honestly that blind?" Hikaru scowled at her question, but Haruhi continued, "You realize I'm just trying to accept everything, right? I'm sorry if I fainted and ended up being a pain, but to think I'm trying to drive a wedge in between you and Kaoru or anyone else, for that matter, is just lying to yourself."

Kaoru and Kyouya waited in anticipation of Hikaru's wrath, which would be filled with rage, snappy comebacks, and copious amounts of swearing, but instead, Hikaru sat in silence, never breaking gaze with Haruhi. Instead, the ginger had only one request. "Don't talk to me." And with that said, he went back to his sketching, pretending nothing had happened.

Haruhi continued to stare at him, and the room was awkwardly quiet until a mirror-doorway began to ripple and D.A.'s voice could be heard, "Hello?" All four Reapers looked over to see an image of D.A. in a bright and sunny but quiet alley.

"How-" Haruhi began, but Kaoru had anticipated her question and cut her off.

"The back of your clock doubles as a sort of webcam to the common room so we can communicate."

D.A. sounded a little worried, and looked slightly distressed. "I don't have much time. Something went wrong and I think my equipment was sabotaged. My clock is broken."

Now all the Reapers were grim, and Kyouya was quick to respond, knowing they wouldn't have much time until the connection was destroyed. "We'll be there soon, where are you?"

"I'm in the quieter part of Mon-"

And then she disappeared, the mirror once again just reflecting the room, and the four Reapers standing in tense silence.

"I don't understand," Haruhi spoke up, "Can't she teleport back? I know mortals can see her now, but aren't her powers fine?"

Kaoru looked over at her, shaking his head. "That's just it. Our powers are tied to our clock. If it breaks or isn't around our neck while we're in the mortal world, all our powers are blocked. It's a fail-safe, to keep humans from discovering us. It's easy to replace the clock with another, but the trick is getting it to her."

"And considering we don't know we're she is, we're screwed," Hikaru piped up, the danger of the situation making him forget his silence.

Haruhi still didn't quite grasp the urgency. "Then why the rush? She's not in actual danger, is she?"

"On the contrary, she's in grave danger," Kyouya told her, his usual calmness slowly evaporating from his features. "Her immortality has been taken away. But Demons can still see, and will target her." And now all the color drained from Haruhi's face as it hit her.

Death's Angel could be dead within the hour.

Kyouya was quick to distribute jobs, knowing time was of the essence. "Haruhi, go to the wardrobe and get a new clock. Hikaru, Kaoru, search D.A.'s room for clues, she's bound to have traveled to one of the places she's wanted to visit again. I'm going to search for places starting with M-o-n. As soon as Death gets out of his meeting with Life, alert him of what's happened, Haruhi."

And the four went their separate ways and prayed they wouldn't be too late.

* * *

><p>After Death and Life had sat down to a relatively calm discussion over tea and macaroons, Life's bodyguards, First Rank Angels named Mitskuni and Takashi, otherwise known as Hunny and Mori, were traversing the hall outside of Death's office.<p>

"Ne, Takashi, I know Life said we should mess with the reapers' stuff, but it seems a little mean, doesn't it?"

"Mmm."

"Oh well, I just hope the clock she told us to mess with broke today. Then all Life has to do is keep Death busy, and she says we'll finally rid the problem that stands between them and harmony."

"Yeah."

"…Hey Takashi, we should have cake to celebrate!"

"Sure."

And the two were none the wiser as to what they had actually done.

* * *

><p><strong>It only took ten chapters, but we're diving headfirst into the actual plot.<strong>

**I would also like to take this time to thank anyone who is still reading this even when I take so long to update. This chapter especially was a pain to write simply because the words wouldn't come to me, but I'm happy with how it turned out, and that we're going to really pick up some steam.**

**Until next time, read and enjoy!**


	11. Can You Put Me Down Now?

_Chapter 11: Can You Put Me Down Now?_

"And so Tamaki came to me and I had to spend an hour trying to keep his brain from frying."

"Not a very bright boy, is he?"

"Don't call him stupid…but I will admit, common sense and the like aren't his forte."

Life and Death continued to chat over tea and macaroons rather calmly, albeit Life occasionally snapping at Death for some comment he made. Eventually, Death reached into a drawer under his desk and pulled out a feather. "He left this behind," he told Life, placing it on the desk for her to see, and then sitting back and smirking. "Seems he's _down_ on his luck."

Life certainly wasn't laughing. She looked at the feather and then back up at Death, placing her teacup and plate on the desk. "I don't understand; why would you have one of Tamaki's feathers?"

"Seems he created a Demon to come after one of my Reapers."

"No, no, no, that's impossible! Tamaki would never do something like that."

"Unless you ordered him to."

"I'll have you know I would do no such thing!"

And so it continued.

* * *

><p>Getting the watch was easy enough, as was delivering it to the common room and setting it next to Kyouya who was on a laptop, but it was getting to Death that proved to be tricky for Haruhi.<p>

She was in the main hallway, standing in front of the elevator.

An elevator with no buttons.

Haruhi couldn't simply teleport herself to his office, as she had never been there. But how in the world was she supposed to operate this? It didn't work like the other mirrors; she had already tried that.

"Skraaah! Create a button! Skraaah!"

It had been a while since she had last heard from a gargoyle, and instinctively Haruhi flinched, looking to the source of the sound behind her, the stone creature's eyes glowing green, and then returning to their normal stony stare.

Why hadn't she thought of it herself? Probably because she was still getting used to her powers, but now wasn't the time to think about that. She reached out her hand so it was a few inches from the wall next to the elevator, and concentrated on a simple button with an up arrow, watching as before her eyes, a mirrored button appeared. Not quite what she had pictured in her mind, but so long as it worked, Haruhi couldn't' complain.

She hesitantly reached out and pressed it. A little beep sounded, startling her, and then the button vanished in a puff of smoke, Haruhi skeptical as to whether it had worked or not. Seconds later, though, the doors glided open, and she stepped inside, her reflection surrounding her, and she cringed a little, remembering the last time she was in the elevator.

Looking at the buttons, Haruhi assumed that Death would place his office at the very top; the 13th floor. As the elevator sped upwards, she vaguely wondered what sort of floor plan was in place. Her head spun when she tried to sort it out, and so she stopped, and her mind automatically wondered what other rooms existed. As soon as she heard the ding and the doors opened once more, though, Haruhi was set on her mission: find Death and tell him the situation with D.A.

Stepping into a hall that looked similar to the main hall, only with one large black door instead of mirrors, Haruhi felt herself being lifted from the ground by a pair of strong hands on the sides of her stomach. She immediately panicked, beginning to kick and squirm, but before she could yell, a small blonde boy with a pink stuffed bunny had bounced over to her and tilted his head to the side.

"Ne, who are you?"

He looked far too young to be here, and Haruhi instantly recognized him as an Angel from Hikaru's description. "Haruhi Fujioka," she answered, calming down. "I'm a Reaper." She turned around as best she could to get a look at who was strong enough to easily hold her up off the ground, and saw an incredibly tall, tan young man with black hair, also an Angel. "Um, can you put me down? I have to tell Death something; it's important."

The tall boy shook his head no, and the younger one told her, "I'm Hunny, and that's Mori. We're Life's bodyguards, and she's specifically instructed us to keep everyone out." He leaned in, whispering, and Haruhi found herself leaning towards him, too, "She's having a super important meeting with Death, and can't be disturbed."

Okay. It was clear she was going to have to start speaking his language if she ever wanted to get past. "Well, I kind of need to tell Death something super _mega_ important."

She wasn't too surprised when he had to stop and think about it for a minute, debating whether or not to let her go. After all, he couldn't be more than seven, and if it was super mega important, he shouldn't stand in the way. "Mitskuni," Mori interjected, "We have orders."

Curses, foiled by the tall one. "Can I at least be let down?" She added jokingly, "I promise I won't make a run for it."

Hunny opened his mouth to say something, most likely a no, but he was interrupted by the black door slamming open, startling all three of them. There was Death, smiling. Haruhi could see his office behind him, full of reds, blacks, whites, and a few browns, which surprised her. Either side was lined with shelves displaying books, souvenirs, strange items of a somewhat mystical nature or another, a plethora of tea and coffee, and chocolate. There was a large desk in the back, trinkets resting on top of the wooden surface, including a skull (with an autograph from Shakespeare, though Haruhi couldn't see it) and behind the desk was an intimidatingly large leather office chair. In front of the desk were two black 2nd Empire chairs. One of them was being occupied by, Haruhi could only guess, Life herself, looking rather annoyed at the interruption.

"I'll take it from here, boys!" Death reached out and seemed to snatch Haruhi from Mori's grasp, and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, Haruhi protesting about being tossed around so much, but Death ignoring her. He turned back around only to slam the door. After placing Haruhi down, who scowled, he asked her, "Now what is it my newest Reaper needs to tell me that is super mega important?"

"Right. D.A. is-"

"Ahem." The two looked over to find Life standing, the annoyance on her face only more pronounced now, with her arms crossed and brow raised. She asked Death sweetly, with so much malice in her undertone that it almost made Haruhi shiver, "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

Death rolled his eyes, but did as she asked, gesturing between the two. "Life, Haruhi. Haruhi, Life."

Life wasted no time in circling the brunette, eyeing her critically up and down, frowning now and again. Haruhi couldn't help but feel like she was a grade-schooler being inspected by her mother before leaving for Picture Day. The thought tugged at her heart, and she pictured her mother's soft, smiling face.

"Hmm…" Life seemed to have reached a conclusion upon her inspection, as she stopped in front of Haruhi, her hand cupping her chin while she was in thought. "Is she the only girl?"

"You're well aware about D.A. You complain enough, anyway."

"D.A. can handle herself, as you're well aware. You made me give her all those powers in the first place. However, there are three teenage boys living within close vicinity of her, and she, uh, what was it? Haruhi? Yes, Haruhi obviously hasn't mastered her powers, and looks rather weak. Suppose one of your male Reapers gives in to lust?"

"Then you'll have a brand new life to create and maybe that'll finally get you off my back."

They began bickering back and forth, and Haruhi couldn't hide the blush that crept into her cheeks. However, she wasn't in the least frightened. Kaoru, perhaps, might come onto her, but he couldn't be much stronger than her with his skinny limbs. She could handle herself. Besides, this wasn't even why she was here. "D.A.'s in trouble."

Life and Death froze, Death suddenly looking incredibly serious. It was a stark contrast to his usual self. "What's happened?" he asked calmly.

"Her clock broke. We're not sure where she is. Somewhere starting with m-o-n."

And then Death was back to his smiling. "Well that's simple: Monte Carlo, Monaco."

"Monte Carlo?" Haruhi parroted. She hadn't ever heard of it.

Death nodded. "It's home to many casinos. She's always wanted to try her hand at gambling," he explained. Life scowled, but Haruhi had to suppress a laugh at the thought of D.A. sitting at a cards table. Her poker face was perfect for it.

"Yes, well," Death ended her daydream with a clap, and began ushering her to the door. "Make a nice field trip out of it. Bonding, as they say. I want all four of you to go and look for her. Oh, and make sure no harm comes to her, or I'll raise your debt a thousand souls!" As he gave her a final shove into the hall, he added with a smile before slamming the door in her face, "She'll probably be in the Casino de Monte Carlo; supposedly it's the most famous. But time is of the essence, so don't…_test your luck_."

Haruhi sighed, suddenly hit with how exhausting this all was. No time for that, though. She was already hurrying towards the elevator, waving back to a smiling Hunny and a considerably more stoic Mori, and creating a button. _Next stop, Monte Carlo._

* * *

><p>Life watched as the petite girl was being pushed out of Death's office, and she frowned. Her entire plan was ruined. Next time she would have to make sure to take into account how Death could hear everything in his headquarters.<p>

When Death turned back around, Life huffed, "Well, it's clear we're not going to get anywhere with this meeting-"

"We rarely do."

"-So I'll take my leave, now." She brushed past him, nose in the air. She knew he wouldn't stop with his investigation of Tamaki's feather left by a Demon, but she wouldn't benefit staying here any longer.

"Oh, and Life?" As she opened the door, Hunny and Mori loyally standing behind her, waiting, Death called out, wrath sparking in his eyes, "Do a better job with distracting me, next time. I wouldn't mind a strip tease."

"Sorry, I don't offer them to women."

And with yet another slam of the door in a short span of time, Death was left standing and blinking. Did she really just make a comeback? She would usually just huff and storm out, her sign that she had been defeated. But if anything, she acted as though she had won.

Death frowned. "Something's wrong."

* * *

><p>"Did everything work out all right, Ms. Life? Is there peace now?"<p>

"No, not yet. But with everyone away enjoying a vacation, there will be."

"You mean everyone's going to relax and be happy?"

"Something like that."

"Can we go on vacation, Ms. Life?"

"Not right now, Hunny. Right now we have a lot of work to do."

* * *

><p><strong>Fun fact: Death's favorite play is Hamlet. Everyone dies at the end.<strong>

**Ohoho, what does Life have up her sleeve? But that's for another time, because next chapter we're going to visit Monte Carlo! (Wikipedia don't fail me now!)**

**Also, Image Manager? I've already said in my other story that I just find it annoying, what about you guys? Seems like effort we shouldn't have to waste, but if we don't, our story suddenly looks worse.**

**Questions? Comments? Concerns? Send me a review, they make my day.**

**Until next time, read and enjoy!**


	12. Who Killed Benny Morgan?

_Chapter 12: Who Killed Benny Morgan?_

"Um, shouldn't we pack, or something?"

Hikaru rolled his eyes at Haruhi's question. "Relax, Newbie, it'll only take a day at most." Since the D.A. scare only half an hour before, he had seemed to become less hostile towards her, although Haruhi was dubious as to whether it would last.

Since she had met with the others and relayed everything Death had told her, the other three Reapers seemed to lighten, and were far less panicked and serious than before. They had changed into simple summer clothing, except Kyouya, who wore a rather formal jacket and tie, but they all had their clocks still around their necks. Kyouya was being trusted with D.A.'s replacement clock.

"I don't know," she sighed. It was clear none of them grasped how far they actually were from pinpointing where D.A. was. They had a vague notion, nothing more. Surely they should pack a few things as a precaution, in case they were hurt, or ended up taking much longer than expected.

Kyouya piped up, "We better get going. The sooner we leave, the sooner we find D.A."

"Aw, but Death said this could be a field trip," Hikaru and Kaoru whined, "So why not go back and stay a few days after we find her?"

"Let's get there first, and then we can debate over how long to stay." He slid his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and then turned to the gargoyle in front of all of them. They were back in the common room, and Haruhi had been given a few quick instructions on a large group teleportation.

Once all four Reapers had placed a hand on the head of the statue, Kaoru was given the honor of stating, "Group transportation."

"Skraaaah! State location and number of individuals, skraaah!"

"Monte Carlo, Monaco. Four individuals."

"Skraaah! Transporting!"

Haruhi shut her eyes, and felt the familiar rush of wind blowing past her, ruffling her simple yellow sundress, which Kaoru insisted on dressing her up in, and made Hikaru turn a little red and grumble something incoherent. Haruhi thought it was too inconvenient for a rescue mission, and had at least negotiated with Kaoru enough to allow her to wear brown capris underneath.

When she felt her feet on firm ground and the wind had stopped, she opened her eyes, and saw that they were all in a busy street, with a variety of people walking past, and a few vendors on the side, yelling in a foreign language. Haruhi already felt dazed from the sudden change of surroundings; this place was nothing like where she grew up and lived. She turned, and her eyes widened, as she saw the ocean for the first time, and smelled the sea air.

Growing up, her father barely had any time to spend with her, what with all his long working days to try and make ends meet, and Haruhi balancing her school work and house work. When they did have enough time to travel anywhere, they simply didn't have the funds, and so while most of her class-mates could trade stories about visiting old relatives or simply having fun at the beach, Haruhi was left out. It was clear none of the others were fazed by the exotic location. She figured they must have been traveling for a while, working for Death.

"Is everyone fine?" Kyouya whispered. They were still invisible, and while the caw of seagulls and pedestrian chatter could cover up their whispering, more and more people were bumping into them, and wondering why on earth air was solid.

After a quick nod from all the others, he led them expertly through the crowd, causing a few more people to wonder what they had bumped into. When they had reached an alley, with only a few cats as witnesses, they took off their clocks, ending their invisibility, but also blocking their powers.

"Are we technically mortal, now?" Haruhi asked, feeling a little strange. It was as if her vital organs decided to remind her they were there, and she felt heavier inside.

Kaoru nodded. "So keep your clock close to you, because Demons will still attack."

"Only if someone dies," Kyouya added, his glasses catching a glint, "So let's hope no one does."

"Let's go check out this Casino de Monte Carlo," Hikaru suggested, the four of them walking back onto the street.

They were faced with a communication barrier, and so had to rely on Kyouya, the only one who knew enough French to get basic directions to the casino. At which point, Kaoru made a very important observation.

"Exactly how old are you supposed to be to get in?"

Hikaru shrugged. "We could always sneak in, like D probably did."

Kyouy smirked, drawing a fake I.D. out of his pocket. "Unlike the three of you, I came prepared." Haruhi frowned, wondering when he had the time to conjure up an I.D.

The bespectacled Reaper brushed past the others, about to enter, when the twins protested, "Hey, how come you're the only one who gets to go in?"

"Because I'm the only one with a valid I.D. I also look the oldest, am the only one who knows French, and frankly, the most competent. Now wait out here and don't get yourselves killed, I'll only be a few minutes."

* * *

><p>Death examined his statistics appearing on the parchment in front of him, humming to himself. As of late, everything was just as in balance as always.<p>

Then there was a number spike. "Hmm?" Death barely gave it any thought, snapping his fingers and matching the sudden increase in creation of lives with a sudden increase of deaths. For the most part, he could get away with killing off some plants, maybe a squirrel to even it all out.

There was another spike. Then another. And more still. Death frowned, watching as the numbers soared. His eyes widened. "The hell is going on?" This was record-breaking. He began to panic. "D.A., emergency meeting in my office now."

Silence. That's right, she was in Monte Carlo. He needed to get in touch with all his Reapers, the assignments were pouring in, but he had no time. He stumbled through his office, grabbing his cloak, trying to get in touch with the others, but failing. They had their clocks off. He needed to find them in person, and then find Life and kill her. Preferably violently. And with sharks, he loved using sharks.

* * *

><p>Haruhi took the opportunity to look around. High class socialites dressed for the part passed them, a few given them questionable stares, wondering why some teenagers in jeans were hanging around. Haruhi didn't pay much attention to them, and instead focused on the vendors pushing a few carts down the street, and the tourist shops drawing people in. It was foreign to her, but struck her as quaint.<p>

Kaoru squinted, trying to look in the distance, and told Hikaru and Haruhi, "Well, looks like Kyouya got D.A."

Hikaru strained his eyes to see as well. "Yeah, but something's off."

Now it was Haruhi's turn to observe. "Are they running?"

"They're motioning to us."

"I think they're putting their clocks on-"

"We should probably do the same-"

"But why-"

They saw why. Hundreds of Demons of varying shapes and sizes seemed to pour out of the shadows, windows, alleys, and came straight towards them. The trio could only watch with wide eyes after they put their clocks on. D.A.'s voice spurred them into action. "I suggest we start fighting if we don't want to be killed."

Summoning their scythes, they began slashing away at the little monsters, most fairly simple, probably coming from simple-minded creatures, like squirrels. Or sharks, they could be sharks.

Haruhi put her practice to good use, doing her best to defend herself, but still managing to get a deep gash in her left arm, making her cry out in pain. She faltered for a moment, and the Demons exploited her weakness and took it as a time to pounce. Hikaru seemed to appear out of nowhere, blocking them. "Don't let your guard down, Newbie."

The Demons were starting to get stronger, and they pushed the Reapers into a circle, all of them fighting with their backs facing the center. "We can't keep this up much longer, we'll have to teleport back to headquarters," Kyouya told them between blocks and hits.

"We can't. They'll take the souls," D.A. replied. Even with her experience, she was starting to sweat. Never before had she had to handle so many Demons at once in one place.

Haruhi commented, "I didn't see any souls or dead bodies."

"At first, they were probably just road kill or something Death usually handles," Kaoru told her, "But now it looks like people are starting to die."

Hikaru panted. "Was there a genocide we didn't hear about?"

"I don't know. Death's bitten off more than he can chew," D.A. told him. She slashed at a Greed Demon. "But on the flipside, that means Life is busy creating."

And they realized in that one moment exactly what was going on. They were in a trap. A trap that was about to get even deadlier, no thanks in part to the casino down the street.

* * *

><p>Remy Welsh was a beautiful starlet who was almost always on the arm of Christopher Smythe. She should have been in the arms of Benny Morgan, at least in Benny's mind. The two had been dating for months after they were the romantic leads in a movie together. Those six months were the best time of Benny's life, and he knew they were for Remy as well.<p>

Then Christopher had arrived on the scene. He stole everything from Benny: his acting career, his fortune, his fans, but most importantly, Remy. For a year, Benny could only watch as he became a nobody and the girl of his dreams was getting closer and closer to his worst enemy. Now, he had nothing to lose, and waited patiently near the bar, his gun hidden in his suit jacket.

Sure enough, Christopher strode in, Remy laughing obnoxiously at something he said, her white teeth flashing against her red lips. Benny began moving closer, his hand reaching into his jacket. He gripped the gun firmly, and pulled it out, about to take aim at not just Christopher, but Remy as well. Maybe he could get the two miserable scums in one shot.

He failed to account for the tight security, and was tackled by a previously hidden bodyguard. Benny was strong, though, and with adrenaline pumping through him, he managed to throw the man off him and took aim at a terrified Christopher. Before he could pull the trigger, he was shot.

The second bodyguard had been aiming for his stomach, but he had never been the best shot, and ended up being known as the man who killed Benny Morgan with one bullet to the heart.

* * *

><p>The crowd of Demons seemed to be thinning a little, allowing the Reapers to catch their breath in between fights. It was only the quiet before the storm.<p>

Hikaru was the first to see it, as he had a direct view of the casino. He could only stare. "Shit."

His fellow Reapers turned to follow his gaze, and watched in horror as a colossal Wraith Demon began to stand from the shadow cast by the casino. The red bear was at least three stories high, with fur that seemed to have a closer resemblance to spikes, fangs that were too big to fit in its mouth, and long black claws. It let out a roar that shook the Reapers from the inside, and reminded them just how small they were in comparison.

D.A. was the first to break their silence. "That's a problem."

* * *

><p><strong>Welcome back to Gray Area. Did you miss me?<strong>

**I noticed has been going under some small changes; it's not bad, just going to take some getting used to. Speaking of changes, my writing style changed up a little for this chapter, which surprised me. I kind of like it, though. Maybe I'll try and show seemingly random moments and then tie them in, or have some more recurring gags. I don't know, I'm rambling.**

**You may have noticed my descriptions were nonexistent. That's because I've never been to Monte Carlo. And I'm lazy, so I don't research too well. Yeah...**

**Until next time, read and enjoy!**


	13. Who Has the Upper Hand?

_Chapter 13: Who Has the Upper Hand?_

"Well, it was nice knowing all of you," Kaoru muttered, watching as the Wrath Demon looked around, and then seemed to hone in on the group of Reapers.

"We still have a chance," D.A. argued, but after the Demon let out another roar that reverberated in their chests, she added softly, "Even if it's small."

Haruhi could feel her throat tighten, and the only thought her mind could process was, _I'm really going to die. I'm going to die._

"Well isn't this fabulous?" The group jumped at the sound of Death's voice, as he seemed to appear out of nowhere. He wasn't grinning, which only made the moment more terrifying. He sighed. "Step back, I'm taking care of this the old fashioned way." They were glad to let him take over, watching as he stepped forward, concentrating.

Death's eyes closed, and he raised a hand to the sky, black aura beginning to surround it. When the aura was traveling up and down his arm like fire, his eyes shot open and he struck the ground, black energy pulsating out from around him. The Reapers watched as Demons fell to the ground, the Wrath Demon letting out a final cry of pain before falling as well, the Darkness coming in and reclaiming it.

Haruhi was in awe, and only snapped out of her daze when Death turned, now smiling again. "Well, good thing I came here and saved all of you. I believe you all owe me your undead lives. Go back to HQ and clean up the place."

Kyouya argued, "But the souls-"

"Don't worry, I'll handle it. Just teleport back; we're having a meeting."

* * *

><p>Death sat at the head of the table in the common room, taking a drink from his mug of hot tea. "So, that was interesting."<p>

"We could've been killed," Haruhi muttered.

"Could have, but you weren't, so let's focus on how we're going to kill Life." Death looked around at them. "Suggestions?"

"Killing her won't solve anything," D.A. told him.

"Why not? I mean, it's not like she's irreplaceable or anything, right?" Hikaru's hands were fists, and he was annoyed and angry. Someone had tried to kill Kaoru, and if they did, it completely defeated the purpose of the two becoming Reapers. "She's wanted to get rid of us since the beginning of time, so let's just get rid of her first and replace her."

"You spend so much time organizing the archives, and yet you still haven't learned anything," Kyouya drawled, sparking a glare from Hikaru. "Life and Death are irreplaceable, and therefore, immortal."

Kaoru, sensing the growing tension between the other two male Reapers, piped up, "Well, how are we going to stop her? Should we send a warning, show we mean business?"

"No, the bitch will find a way to turn it around and just pull another stunt like this." Death sighed, far too used to this type of behavior from Life.

Throughout the conversation, Haruhi had been listening and thinking. When she finally formed an idea that could help, she looked up, asking, "How dependent is Life on her Angels?"

The others blinked, staring at the seemingly innocent brunette who was on to something very brilliant. Death grinned. "I hope you're all in the mood for some Angel Hair pasta."

* * *

><p>Tamaki walked down the shining hall of Life's palace, filled with golden decorations and bright paintings. He smiled to himself, humming a cheery tune. He was incredibly proud of how hard he had worked, and so glad that he could be of assistance to Life. He wasn't sure why she had wanted all her First Rank Angels to focus on creating lives in Monte Carlo, but he wasn't one to question her authority.<p>

He also wasn't one to notice the twins hiding around the corner with a rope and duct tape.

* * *

><p>Renge read her romance novel at her favorite spot: a bench under a willow tree in the garden. She figured she deserved the break, especially after all the hard work she had done. Being a First-Rank Angel could be so tiring. She sighed, placing the book next to her and watching the birds flying between the trees and the flowers blossoming in the sun. She looked back down at the love note she had found only a few minutes ago, and she figured it was for her. Noticing it was time to meet her secret admirer in the secluded corner of the garden, she stood and walked towards it, blissfully happy.<p>

Haruhi learned that she was pretty quick with tying blindfolds.

* * *

><p>Hunny was napping in his and Mori's room, being completely exhausted from the hard day's work, and switching shifts with Life's other bodyguards. Mori himself was starting to feel tired, but forced himself to stay awake, sitting in the fluffy loveseat across from the bed where Hunny slept. His eyelids were becoming increasingly heavy, and no matter how much coffee he drank, he seemed to only grow more tired, until he was finally fast asleep.<p>

D.A. was glad to have discovered a tasteless sleeping serum, and realized just how heavy Mori and Hunny were.

* * *

><p>Ayame was smart. Smart to the point where even after years of serving under Life as a First-Rank Angel, she would question her ways. She knew perfectly well the power struggle between Life and Death, and was finding herself questioning Life's ways more and more often than not. It didn't help that Tamaki and the others seemed to not share her curiosity. She walked through the halls with purpose, as she was finally going to get some answers. Life had sent her a card, requesting her presence in the ballroom to finally reveal her intentions. Ayame was sure as she opened the door that she was going to be able to come to some conclusions.<p>

Kyouya knew every pressure point in the human body, but decided that the neck was the easiest part to target.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everyone, I'm sorry to have disappeared yet again, but a close friend of mine has recently passed away. I wish I could say that I'm healing and everything's just fine and I'm throwing myself into writing, but it's going to take a little longer for me to recover. Don't worry, I'm still writing, just not as often or as much.<strong>

**Until next time, read and enjoy!**


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